Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was sunny and warm outside. Quite unusual weather for Halloween. That is if you didn't live in the Southern Hemisphere.

Crash and Coco were on the beach simply relaxing. The former asleep and the latter typing away on her laptop. Coco had made a few modifications to her laptop/tablet, allowing her to get news and Internet before anyone else could. Aside from fixing up the old house, the bandicoot siblings would keep their skills in shape. They remembered how to slide, crawl, ground pound, and slide jump but double jumping took some time to regain. Other than that, things were uneventful.

Coco had been searching nonstop on leads for what happened to Tawna. It had been over a year since she left for the mainland and she hadn't come back. Both her and her brother were getting worried. So she searched the web for anything when she came across a news report.

November 4, 1996

Crowds are stunned at the sight of evolved Austrailian mammals. The three present were a koala, a potoroo, and a bandicoot. They answered any question given in exchange for being treated like everyone else. The bandicoot was approached by a young woman in a red dress with a blond updo and asked for an exclusive interview with her. As the two walked off...

The laptop screen then turned black as a red empty battery flashed. "No. Nononono!" Coco pounded the keyboard but the laptop went completely black. She sighed, of all the times for her battery to run out. Looking at Crash asleep, she grabbed his arm and shook him awake.

"Crash. Crash, Crash!"

He slowly woke up yawning, "Huh? What's going on? Is Aku back from patrolling?"

"No. My battery is fried." Coco took the battery out and gave it to her brother. "Right when I got a lead on what happened to Mom. Could you take this back to the house, put it in the charger, and come back with an extra battery for me?"

With nothing else to do, Crash nodded and headed back to the house. On the way there, he spotted Aku-Aku. "Battery run out of juice again?" he asked.

"Yep" Crash jumped over a pit. "Good thing they're rechargeable since we only have two. If only they lasted longer."

"I'm sure Coco will find a way to make longer-lasting batteries" Aku said. "If she can make you a smartphone she can make anything."

The two then came across a stone structure when there was a bright light. Crash shielded his eyes and when he opened them, he found that he was in a strange room with five portals.

"Gah! What happened?! Where are we?!" he clung to Aku-Aku.

"I don't know" he managed to answer. The lights then went dark as a hologram turned on allowing a person to make himself be known. And that person was Dr. Cortex.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my bandicoot. Welcome."

Crash was on edge and got in a fighting stance. "Cortex! Why did you kidnap me?!" Aku-Aku stared him down as well.

Cortex put up his hands, "I apologize for kidnapping you against your will, but I knew a written invitation would have been rejected. I thought a lot about what you said last year, how families shouldn't destroy the environment and they should care for one another. It was wrong of me to attack you and your sister."

This made Crash lower his guard. His old creator was apologizing? Did he see the error of his ways? This filled Crash with hope. He always believed there was good in Cortex with how he viewed him and Coco like his own children. Their relationship was complicated at times but he did show that he cared.

As Crash stood in thought, Cortex spoke again. "I can explain everything but first, I need your help. Surrounding you are a series of five doors. Each one leads to a location around the world where there's a power crystal. The crystals look like this." He pulled up a crystal allowing Crash to see what it looked like.

"Ooh. It's pretty" he said.

"And powerful" Cortex added. "I found this in the caves under my old castle. It's a Master Crystal. It has insurmountable power on its own but it can't be used to its full potential without twenty-five Slave Cystals. They're scattered around Earth. I can't search for them myself as I am not athletically inclined. None of my assistants are either. So I went with you, seeing as how you passed my tests with flying colors."

Aku-Aku was still suspicious, "What do you want with these crystals? What are you planning to do with them?"

The hologram started to flicker, "I will tell you once I fix the hologram device. We will speak again." Cortex turned off the hologram leaving the two alone.

"I don't know about this" Aku stated. "I heard stories about these crystals and they can be used for great good or evil."

Crash turned to the portal that had Turtle Woods engraved on it. "Even so, maybe Cortex did turn over a new leaf. You did say it takes time for people to change and a year is pretty long."

"Well...yes...but still. It's best to keep our guards up. People tend to use emotions to get others to do what they want. However, I suppose it would be best to make sure the crystals don't fall into a stranger's hands. We may even find a way out of here as well." Aku-Aku stated, knowing that Crash viewed Cortex as a father figure.

"Sounds good. Let's get started!" Crash jumped into the portal before Aku even noticed.

He sighed, "I never knew raising children would lead to things like this."

Chapter Text

It had been twenty minutes since Crash left to get a new laptop battery. Coco was getting worried about this. The house wasn't far from where they were and it couldn't take that long to find the charger. Not to mention, Aku-Aku hadn't shown up yet. Something wasn't right.

With no other options, Coco got up and headed down the path her brother took. She stopped at a stone structure and noticed something was off about it. She knelt down and noticed technology wired into the stone, disguised as vines.

"What the...?"

Glad she picked today to bring hacking cables with her, Coco plugged her laptop/tablet into the device on the stones with her cables and started typing away. The battery was recharging to her relief so she did get power.

If this technology was what she thought it was, her brother might be in danger.

***

The portal Crash and Aku-Aku went through first dumped them into a dank room with a door present. They headed out only to be met with a thunderstorm.

"Not again" Crash groaned as he remembered the slippery climb up the castle. If there was one thing he really despised about rain, it was his socks getting soaked. Fortunately, the path was straightforward this time with no high heights to worry about.

As the two headed forward, smashing crates like old times, they noticed something was off about the animals. The turtles had spikes or buzz saws on their shells, the armadillos were encased in armor, and vultures had cybernetics on their heads.

"Um...do animals normally look like this around here?" Crash asked.

Aku-Aku frowned, "No. Someone must be tampering with them. Judging by the technology, it must be from a scientist."

"But it can't be Cortex" Crash interjected. "He says he's turning over a new leaf."

"I'm not saying it is him" Aku reassured him. "There are plenty of evil scientists in the world. I wouldn't be surprised if we ran into one. Be on your guard child."

They continued forward, spinning or sliding enemies away. After destroying a few crates, Crash stopped and looked at the ground. There was a strange stone carving of a face on it. He didn't know why but he had the urge to slam it.

Aku noticed what he was doing, "Crash we need to keep moving."

"There's something about this thing. I can feel more crates underneath."

That made the mask puzzled. "Um, it's stone. I highly doubt there's a pathway under-"

Crash body slammed it and a trapdoor opened up, letting him fall. He landed on another path where more crates were present. Aku-Aku followed him and was stunned. "Huh, it seems there are things even I am unaware of."

The hidden path was actually more challenging than the one above. Not only were there the animals with technology, but ostriches to slide jump across to get the crates on ledges. Crash was quick enough to make it across but he suddenly came across something he recognized.

"What are those crates?" Aku-Aku asked.

"Nitro" Crash answered. "Made from distilled Wumpa. One touch and they explode. I had to deal with lots of them during my training. Cortex stated they needed more R&D before shipping them out. Guess someone thought they were finally ready."

These nitro crates were easy to get around and based on experience, Crash knew there was a detonator to destroy them. Sure enough, there was one next to a platform. He spun it, making the nitro explode, and then got on the platform. It brought him and Aku-Aku back on the main path which meant getting rained on again.

The rest of the way was back to being simple. After destroying a wall of crates, Crash spotted a pink/purple glow and ran towards it. "Look! That must be it!"

Sure enough, there was a power crystal just floating in mid-air. The two heroes surrounded it. "It's been so long since I have seen a power crystal" Aku stated. "People have used them for years, both for good and evil. To see one here is just-"

"ACHOO!" Crash sneezed, bringing the mask out of his thoughts. "Sorry" he apologized for interrupting.

"It is alright. We do need to get out of this rain" Aku floated ahead as Crash followed. There were huge pits to get through first which involved spinning away moles to make bouncy mushrooms appear. Strange, but practical. The portal back to the warp room was finally in sight so the two rushed in where a gem was present.

"Looks like every crate was smashed here" Crash picked up the gem and placed it with the crystal. "You think Cortex needs gems too?"

"It would be best if we don't show him" Aku-Aku replied. "I still have my reservations."

Crash nodded and stepped through the portal. He was back in the warp room. He shook himself dry and placed the crystal in a slot next to the door he came through. The lights went dim again so Crash faced the center where a hologram of Cortex reappeared.

"Well done my boy! I knew I could rely on you!"

The praise made Crash smile. It had been so long since Cortex applauded him. "Thanks."

"Now will you please tell us why you want these crystals?" Aku-Aku questioned.

"Of course but I have to do so quickly. These holograms are hard to maintain" Cortex said. "During the course of my intellectual pursuits on how to make up for my past actions, I have stumbled across a force that threatens to destroy the world."

Crash and Aku-Aku were quiet at this. The world was going to be destroyed? But how? Before either one could ask what the danger was, Cortex kept going.

"The crystals are the only means of containing this dangerous force. The fate of the world is at stake. It is imperative therefore, that you bring them to me." The hologram then fizzled out as it sounded like something else was trying to get through. An image didn't pop up but Crash could faintly hear a voice.

"Are you there Crash? Crash? Are you there Crash?"

The speakers then went silent. "That voice...it sounded like Coco." Crash managed to make out. "Guess she found out I never came back."

"We will find a way out of these rooms" Aku-Aku stated. "Let's keep going with the next door."

The two went through on with the label Snow Go. The sooner the crystals were collected, the sooner the world would be safe.

***

"It appears someone is trying to hack into our systems" Cortex checked the frequency of the hologram. We'll have to secure our coding to keep it from getting out of hand." He then turned to his assistant, "Nitro Gin!"

A short man with orange hair and a missile on the right side of his head came up with a white coat with black spots. "Yes?"

"I need you to secure our defenses. Someone's attempting to use our technology to send messages to our ally. I can't let any risk come to us."

"Of course Dr. Cortex" Nitro got to work on the mechanics. Cortex had found him odd on occasions. Aside from the missile somehow not killing the man and the robotic voice, N. Gin had a strong fascination with weaponry and machinery, more so than normal. He was also passionate about music, wanting to use it for scientific creations. Regardless, he was very dependable, helping him rebuild and get things back on track.

Cortex then walked to the Master Crystal floating in its container. He could feel its power from where he was standing. It was unlike any other power source he had. It was practically the same as those colored gems he had before his factory and castle exploded. If one big crystal had this much energy, who knows what would happen if its brethren were collected?

Whatever this power is, he would have it in his hands soon enough.

***

"Brrrr. S-S-So...c-c-cold" Crash hugged himself as he tried to stay warm.

"That's right. This is your first time with snow" Aku-Aku took in the situation.

Crash did know what snow was thanks to the mask's stories. It was cold, can be soft, and frozen rain. Snow was rare in Australia though so to be sent somewhere in Antartica was a jarring jump.

Crash shuddered again, "Let's hope the c-c-crystal is n-n-near." He headed off, setting off a TNT crate and coming across icy areas. The second he stepped onto the ice, he struggled to keep his footing.

"Whoa!"

He slipped constantly as he tried to get to the crates. His slide helped to get around but his shoes had no traction. "Easy child. Slow and steady" Aku-Aku guided him.

Even with that, Crash kept flailing around. He suddenly shook his hands on both sides to keep balance, which led to showing his groin to the left then right, doing three pelvic thrusts to the right then left as he nearly tumbled over, and finally a 180 degree turn as he spun around and around before making it to the other side with a surprise pose.

Aku-Aku just stared at that, "What was that?"

"I don't know" Crash managed to say. "But it was fun. Like a little dance. Maybe it could work better on solid ground."

After getting through that, Crash came across some seals. "Ooh! What animals are those?"

"Seals. They are indigenous here" Aku-Aku answered. "It's best that we stay away-"

He didn't get through his sentence as Crash ran up to one to try and pet him. The second his hand was out, the seal chomped on it.

"OW!" Crash spun the seal away on instinct. "It hurts! Why did he bite me?"

As he healed the injury, Aku spoke softly, "It's in his instincts. Animals bite and attack when they feel threatened. They likely saw you as a threat due to never seeing someone like you before."

Crash sniffled as he listened. Aku-Aku had a point. There really was no one like him or his family walking around the world. He had to be careful when exploring the planet. Who knows what other creatures would want to eat him?

With his hand healed, he continued on to a platform that took him to an icy cave. There was lots of danger here, from seals to stone or wood pummels, treading lightly was important. The crates were easy to get so that was something. Before long, Crash spotted a red gem floating above him from what seemed to be a path from an upper level.

"Look! A gem!" Spotting a bouncy steel crate, Crash tried to jump up to it but couldn't get past the walls that blocked it. He tried and tried but kept failing. Eventually, he gave up.

"I'm sure there is another way to get the gem" Aku-Aku consoled him. "You have been known to find secrets."

So they continued on, dodging dangerous animals and smashing crates. Before long, they found the exit and were back in the snowy area. Crash spotted a nitro crate detonator and spun that. He then saw the crystal's glow behind a wall of crates. He destroyed them only to be stopped by a penguin when he went for the crystal.

"Hey! Do you have any idea how long it took for me to stack those?!" he yelled.

"Oh, those were yours? I'm sorry. I never knew crates belonged to anybody." Crash was stunned that an animal here was able to talk to him. The penguin wore a purple scarf and he didn't look very happy.

"Well now you know! Just leave while I take this back" the penguin grabbed the crystal and headed off only to be stopped by Aku-Aku.

"Wait! That crystal is very important. It's why we're here. Please give it to us."

The penguin glared at him, "After your pet destroyed my crate collection? Pass."

The second he said that, the mask got very close to the penguin and his eyes did not look friendly. "These crystals are too dangerous to be handled by anyone. Especially by someone with a terrible judge in character. It's best to hand the crystal over, or you will face grave consequences."

Crash was stunned at this. Aku's voice was much deeper than before. He never acted like this. It was kind of scary. The penguin did think so too as he gave Crash the crystal and ran off screaming.

Aku-Aku took some deep breaths, "I'm sorry you had to see that Crash. I don't resort to being harsh but when he called you that term I couldn't stand it. Anger and wrath is never my method unlike..." He stopped at that, feeling nervous on what to say but Crash just nodded.

"It's okay. I had to deal with anger too. Remember Pinstripe?"

The mask remembered that moment when both bandicoot siblings lashed out when that potoroo talked down to them. There was a moment when Crash wordlessly picked Pinstripe up and tossed him out the office so hard it left an imprint on the wall. Crash did mention having his sight darkened during this which was odd.

Eventually, the two decided to keep going. "Let's just get back" Crash spotted the portal back so he headed over. It was weird that a non-evolved animal was able to talk. Guess there was more about the world he needed to know.

***

The penguin arrived back at his home where a pink female penguin was. "Penta what happened?" she asked.

Penta was panting hard, "I...found the crystal...but the bandicoot...got it. *pant, pant* There was...a mask. He looked like...he was gonna blast me."

"A mask? You mean the one he told us about?" the female penguin said.

"It was him Gurin" Penta waddled over to a communicator. "Judging by the lack of crates, it's likely the bandicoot got the gem as well. We'll have to let him know."

Ever since he and Gurin drank from the water hole at the Antartic shore, nothing was the same. They were able to talk and gained a higher intelligence. Which meant unwanted company that wanted their help with something. All Penta knew about this man's plan was the sooner he helped him, the sooner he and Gurin would be left alone.

Chapter Text

With the title of the next door being Hang Eight, Crash was confused on what that meant. There was a sign as he walked out stating that if he got to the exit fast enough, a gem would be present. Not one to refuse a gem, Crash ran, jumped, and slid as fast as he could. Then he came across what seemed to be a surfboard with an engine on it.

"Huh, what's this?" he asked Aku-Aku.

The mask looked at the contraption, "It appears to be a jet board. I have never seen one but I did hear stories about it from vacationers." Seeing the vast body of water and no other platforms, he figured Crash had to ride it to the other side. "With no other way across, we'll have to use it."

"Oh...okay." Crash slowly got on, trying to keep his balance. He found the footholds along with a gas pedal. He then pressed it, making the board rocket across the water.

"Yipe!" Crash shifted his body weight to turn. With the limited time to get the gem, he had to learn this fast. He hit the gas every moment when it was safe and leaned to avoid whirlpools. Keeping balance wasn't an issue, thanks to his time on the airship when it was off auto-pilot.

The dock came soon enough so Crash took to running again. Piranha plants then sprung up to try and eat the bandicoot. He spun them away as he jumped from platform to platform.

"What part of the world does this take place in?" Crash took some time to talk with Aku-Aku.

"Umm. I would say either South America with the waterfalls or Africa with the hippos."

Crash stopped when he saw gray creatures just laying in the water. "Are those hippos?"

Aku nodded, "Yes. And it seems they're our best way across. Unless you feel confident enough to do a slide jump?"

He thought about it for a moment but decided against it. The timing was hard to get down with when to jump after sliding and how far he slid. So Crash jumped across the hippos and grabbed the crystal. There was another jet board to ride so he got on that and made his way across.

This section was much harder as there were mines and ramps to speed up on. Didn't help that the mines moved in erratic patterns. "Easy...easy" it was tempting to rush through as time was running out but better safe than sorry.

Finally at the end, Crash spun away another piranha plant and dashed to the exit. The gem was sitting there with ten seconds left on the timer. He grabbed the gem and breathed a sigh of relief.

"So that's three gems and three crystals. Wait...I barely broke any crates!"

Crash was about to run back out but Aku-Aku stopped him. "It is alright child. There are actually a lot more crates that were not on this path.

"What?"

"I could sense another path that can only be accessed by a colored gem" Aku explained. "Even if you went back to destroy those boxes, we do not have any colored gems yet. I am sure we will come across them later on. Then we can come back."

Unsure about this, Crash eventually agreed. At least he wouldn't get pummeled with the amount of crates he missed this time. So he headed back to the warp room and put the crystal in the slot. The room went dark again as the hologram turned back on with Cortex checking on the progress.

"Three crystals. Not bad. I see you are getting the hang of it."

"It is the first few crystals" Crash said. "So it isn't hard right now."

"You're right about that" Cortex nodded. "Each following crystal will become more difficult to collect. I need to conserve power. I will communicate with you again after you retrieve the fifth crystal."

The hologram turned off and the lights came back on. Aku-Aku still looked worried. "I'm still concerned about helping Cortex. He says the world will be destroyed but he hasn't explained how it will be destroyed or how the crystals can help."

"I'm sure he'll tell us next time" Crash headed to a door that read The Pits. "And that can only happen if this warp room is completed." He then jumped through the portal with Aku following close behind.

***

To say finding the next crystal was annoying was an understatement. It started off fine enough, being in a jungle area with pits to jump over. Then there came a fork in the road. Crash could see crates on both sides so he was stumped on which way to go.

"How about we go left first? Then we can go back the way we came and go down the right path" Aku-Aku suggested.

It did seem like a good solution. So Crash and Aku-Aku went down the left path, spinning away tampered animals and normal armadillos. It turned out to be a good choice as there was a steel ! crate and the fourth crystal near the end of the path. Once the crystal was collected, the two went back to the start of the fork which was easy as the obstacles were taken care of.

The right path wasn't much different from the left one. Except near the end where two crates suddenly appeared across two other crates. Crash wasn't surprised as this had happened before with a bridge of crates appearing after spinning a similar steel cube on his last adventure.

The rest of the way was nothing but pits to bounce out of. Crash did manage to shimmy his way across on the sides but he still had to deal with one or two pits.

"I have to say, this is the best location for a crystal to be so far" Crash spoke up.

"I agree. It's in a warm jungle, there's only a few obstacles, and the challenge is manageable" Aku smiled. "This first warp room is quite good at preparing you for the rest of our journey. Nothing too stressful."

***

The fifth portal seemed different from the others. Usually Crash had to turn around to the door but it was in front of him this time. He walked out and came across a stone structure.

"This looks familiar..." He walked under it, destroying crates when he heard something snap as he kept going. Looking behind him, his ears drooped and his heart sank as he saw a boulder about to give away.

"Oh. Right."

Crash was glad he kept his running in shape as he made good distance between him and the boulder. Unfortunately, it still wasn't easy as now mines and electric gates were in the way. The mines didn't kill him but they slowed him down. He could have also sworn that these boulders were much faster than the ones from last time.

After running across a long bridge the most recent boulder collapsed under, Crash found the crystal gently floating above the ground. "And five. Just need to get to the exit without getting flattened."

Once Crash said that, he came across boost pads. He didn't know why they were there until the next boulder chased after him. This one was much faster than the others so Crash made sure to hit every boost pad to stay ahead. It got even worse when there were crates behind the electric gates and his habits made him stop to break them. He still managed to get to the exit, but barely.

Returning, he saw Aku-Aku take in his heavy breathing. "Guess we know why the title is Crash Dash." the mask stated.

The bandicoot was only able to nod. The lights started to dim again, "Oh, Cortex is calling." He placed the crystal in the slot as the hologram turned on. Only this time, it wasn't Cortex.

"So, you are helping Cortex g-g-gather crystals. Yet you have acquired a gem. Interesting."

Crash and Aku-Aku were immediately on guard. "Brio?! How did you get ahold of Cortex's hologram?!" Crash demanded.

Brio only stared at him, "I have the blueprints to his t-t-technology. Now...Crash...know this. As long as you are allied with C-C-Cortex, you are my sworn enemy and I will do anything in my power t-t-to stop you!"

"You must be the one who tampered with those animals from before" Aku-Aku said.

"Cortex isn't evil" Crash responded. "He wants to save the world. He's seen the error of his ways. You have a chance to change too. You did run some physical tests with me and said I was a worthy ally."

"Oh that is t-t-true!" Nitrus replied. "Your powers and abilities are unlike anything I have seen. But you are using th-th-them incorrectly. If the fate of the world is truly your concern, you must g-g-gather the gems not the c-c-crystals."

Crash looked at the five gems he had so far. He did collect gems last time and with stories of them having power, it makes sense that they would be important.

Aku-Aku kept his guard up, "Why do you want the gems?"

"Well, if you obtain all forty-two gems, I c-c-can use them to f-f-focus a laser" Brio explained. "Yes! A laser beam that will destroy Cortex and his s-s-space station he has created!"

That made Crash interested and on edge. Space station? Cortex never mentioned that. But still, he wasn't going to let Brio interfere with Cortex's desire to do good. "I don't want to harm Cortex. We're working to save the world from disaster. I can collect gems, but please understand that anyone can become better."

Brio sighed, "Still holding hope for your creator. It is hard to undo a close b-b-bond. Nevertheless, while you will collect gems, I must still use my f-f-forces to stop you from gathering crystals!" he laughed before the hologram cut off.

There was a moment of silence before Aku-Aku spoke again. "It appears we have two old enemies claiming to save the world. This makes things more complicated."

Crash glanced at the crystals and gems. "I know. I don't know who to side with. I had good memories with Cortex and Brio. And you said anyone can turn from evil. I...I'm just as confused."

Aku floated to him, "Okay. We still don't have all the details. The only way to know more is to keep collecting crystals and gems. Once we get everything, we can see who is telling the truth or not."

The plan sounded good. Crash nodded in agreement as he looked at the platform in the center of the warp room. "I think we need to ride this to the next area."

With no other options, the two got in position, making the platform go up.

***

There was a bright light and Crash found himself in what seemed to be a library. There were books all over but what stood out to him was the waterfall behind a desk. His heart rate increased when he saw the animal reading.

It was the kangaroo from his last adventure. He looked different though with a top hat, bow tie, mustache, and cane. There was also a nameplate that said Dr. Ripper Roo. Roo looked from his book to see Crash and immediately growled.

"Eep! Looks like he remembers us" Crash was in position to run. There was no way he was gonna get caught by surprise again.

Roo started jumping on his cane around the platform they were on. TNT crates started counting down from nine so Crash got to a place where there were no explosives. The crates exploded with Roo still on them making him cackle and act more like the crazed marsupial Crash knew and feared.

He jumped around again, this time making nitro crates appear. As Aku-Aku looked for a weakness, Crash found a safe spot just as Ripper Roo activated the nitro. He became dizzy from the explosion and with his sharp toenails not a threat, Crash spun him.

"Wow. I must be getting stronger if I can actually do damage to him" he pointed out.

"Less admiring, more running!" Aku-Aku reminded him.

The kangaroo kept going, getting faster with each bounce. The more explosions he caused, the more beat up he became. Crash was starting to feel sorry for him. All these explosions can't be good for his sanity. Brio must have sent him to stop Crash like he promised. He had to stop this.

Nitro crates went off again as Roo was on the verge of passing out. With one last spin, Roo was unconscious. Crash felt relieved that he managed to come away from a fight with him without tragedy. He had to celebrate somehow. Remembering his movements on the ice, he did the wacky dance and found it was indeed safer to do on solid ground.

Aku-Aku chuckled, "You seem to like that dance."

"Yeah, have to come up with a name for it." A vortex then sucked Crash away leaving Ripper Roo alone.

***

"*sigh* I should have known Roo couldn't stop Crash" Brio watched from his hidden spy camera.

"What did you excccpect?" Joe said. "He'ssss a loosssse cannon."

Brio paced the floor as the Komodo brothers looked on. "I may need to send you t-t-two if Crash continues on his q-q-quest. He has no idea what he's d-d-dealing with."

"Do you want ussss to collect the gemsss?" Moe asked.

"No need" Nitrus answered. "That's already t-t-taken care of."

Chapter Text

Crash found himself on the platform again as it rose up to a warp area coated in ice. He started shivering, "Brr. It's freezing."

The lights then dimmed which meant one thing. The hologram device turned on as Crash faced Cortex. The scientist laughed heartily, "I see that kangaroo failed to prove much of a challenge this time."

"I know. He was much craftier the last time I faced him" Crash rubbed his arms to try and stay warm.

Cortex then got serious again, "Back to business. There are still crystals to be gathered. Twenty more to be exact."

Aku-Aku floated up to the hologram. "Listen Cortex. You did say the world is in danger and the crystals are important. But I'm still unsure about working with you. We don't even know that the world is in danger from or how the crystals can help."

"My apologies" Cortex explained. "I was planning on telling you but I didn't have enough power to talk for so long. Now that I do I can reveal the danger. The planets in our solar system are aligning, all eight of them. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune."

"Um, what about Pluto?" Aku-Aku asked.

"It dwarfs in comparison to the other eight" Cortex said. "Once the planets align, the event will create a power great enough to rip the Earth apart."

"That can happen?" Crash questioned.

Cortex nodded, "Yes. The cosmic energies each planet wields will become unstable when they are all brought together. Properly utilized however, the crystals can absorb and contain the energy. I built a space station that can use the twenty-five small crystals and the Master Crystal to surround the Earth in a shield, protecting it from the planetary alignment. Time is of the essence. We cannot get distracted with side quests-"

The hologram started to flicker and fade out. Static was getting louder as it sounded like something was trying to break through. Before long a familiar person was standing in place of Cortex.

"Crash? Aku-Aku? Is that you?"

Both were stunned, "Coco? How did you...?"

"It took awhile but I finally got a frequency" she said. "I've been looking all over for you! I went down the path you went on and found wires disguised as vines which meant you got sucked away."

Crash's ears drooped, "We're working on getting back to you. Right now, we're helping Cortex save Earth from getting ripped apart by finding crystals."

Coco started getting worried, "What?! We can't trust him! He tried to force us to lead an army to take over the world! I'm even certain he took you in the first place!"

"I have reservations myself" Aku spoke. "Cortex says he has turned over a new leaf but it appears we do not have all the details. By continuing forward, we can get a better grasp on what's going on."

"Not to mention Cortex really could have changed" Crash added.

Still suspicious, Coco faced her brother. "Crash, I know you and Cortex were close during training but kindness is how evil people can keep their soldiers loyal to them. Trusting someone who says things have changed is unwise." The hologram started to fade out and static returned. "Crash, I can't keep the data pack open much longer. Guys, you need to find-"

The connection was lost, leaving the heroes alone. Crash stood in silence, "Could she be right?"

"I don't know" Aku-Aku replied. "We just have to keep going."

The two then entered a portal that read Snow Biz.

***

Coco groaned in frustration. She had finally gotten a signal only to lose it. If only she had more power. What she was siphoning from the wires wasn't enough.

Her smartphone then dinged making her look at it. Coco was stunned to see a message. She hadn't worked out text messages to herself and her brother yet so how was this possible? Still, she read the message.

What you're doing isn't enough. There is another way to help.

While it was unwise to reply back to an unknown caller, Coco didn't have any other ideas so she texted back. How else can I get my brother and Aku-Aku out of there and find out what Cortex is planning?

The texter replied with, Your brother still loves to explore and find gems in the most obscure ways. Even so, he has missed a few. A big mistake. With how focused he is on crystals, he has forgotten to collect another power source.

That made Coco think. She had seen gems used for power sources. If she had enough, she could hack into Cortex's computers and learn what his intentions really were. But that would mean following her brother into the warp rooms with no known way out. Even so, she wasn't going to sit on the sidelines.

Alright she texted back. I'll get these leftover gems. Just one question, who are you?

Seconds passed before another text appeared. An agent for LT. Also, to get these gems, you'll have to think outside the box.

More texts appeared with instructions as Coco walked into the portal. Whoever this person was, he seemed to know a lot about her and her brother.

***

This was going against what she went through during training.

For many tests, Coco had to break every single crate to pass. Any crate missed would be dropped on her. It made her and her brother develop a desire to break any crate they came across.

Which made getting the blue gem in Turtle Woods all the more struggling.

Coco had to fight every urge to smash the boxes she came across. The mysterious texter told her the blue gem would only reveal itself if the crates here were left unharmed. Why that was is one of nature's mysteries. It still was simple enough as the crates were all off to the side and not in her way. Until she came across a wall of crates stacked high enough that she couldn't jump over.

With the double jump still not relearned yet, Coco had to find another way through without breaking any box here. That was when she noticed one crate was different than the others. Wumpa could be seen through that one while the others were completely covered. She remembered that the see-through crates were bouncy and didn't break until after a certain number of bounces. So she jumped on that one and as expected, it bounced but didn't break.

The rest of the way was much easier. Aside from having to bounce out of pits and dealing with the rain, the way out was breeze. Upon arriving at the exit, Coco saw the blue gem floating there. It looked like the one from Cortex's factory but when she touched it, it felt like the clear gems she found before. The previous colored gems made her feel stronger but this one didn't.

She shook her head. She would look into the colored gems from the last adventure later. Right now, she had to get to the bottom of this.

***

"Whoa-oa-oa!" Coco fought to maintain balance on the jet board as she arrived at the dock. Seeing how Hang Eight had an empty gem slot, it seemed her brother missed one. So she went through the portal and found herself having to deal with piranha plants and surfing along the river. She was back to smashing crates again which brought some normalcy.

Coco then saw a platform that looked like the blue gem she found. It must have opened when it was collected. She got on and was taken to a different part of the area. When the platform stopped, Coco saw two sets of bouncy crates with moving platforms and hippos further ahead. She destroyed the crates and made her way across, going up the stairs and having to bounce across crates in the water as the distance was too far to slide jump.

What she saw next made her sigh, "Looks like the nitro crates were all set." It wasn't much trouble, just had to jump over them. There was another jet board to ride so she got on that as she saw outlines of boxes. Looking for a steel crate to make them appear, Coco had to swerve to dodge mines as they moved in a set pattern. With the crate activated, Coco rode back to the ramps as the crates appeared.

"Okay. Just...hit the gas on the ramps to get all the crates."

Once that was done, Coco docked the jet board and saw the nitro detonator. She spun it and got on the blue gem platform waiting at the end. It brought her back to the main path which was more of the same. Upon reaching the end, the box gem was in sight. She grabbed it and was brought back to the first warp area. There was one gem slot still empty and it was at Snow Go.

Coco's smartphone dinged making her look at it. There was a new text, Good job so far. To get the red gem, you must find the entrance in another area. Go to the second warp area above this one and enter portal seven.

Confused on how the person managed to track her progress, Coco texted, Thanks but, how are you able to know this?

The response was beyond unhelpful. It just said I have my ways. Just make sure Crash and Cortex don't see you.

It was clear she wasn't going to get an actual answer until every gem was collected. So Coco rode the platform up to the next five portals to continue her quest.

***

Snow Biz was certainly trickier than the last snowy area. There were spiky hedgehogs with the penguins and seals, an icy slope with crates in the air Crash had to jump to smash, and icicles that fell from the ceiling. Crash and Aku-Aku did spot a transparent red platform which meant it can only appear when the red gem was collected.

"Like I said, we will find a way to get the red gem. For now, let's focus on the crystals" Aku said.

Crash nodded and they continued forward. The last stretch of the path had rolling stones similar to the ones from N. Sanity Island. After avoiding two, the sixth crystal was in plain sight. There were no penguins this time to bother them so that was good. The two headed for the exit and saw there were plenty of crates Crash missed.

It did hurt on the inside that not every box was broken. But Aku-Aku did say they had other things to worry about. They would deal with the gems later. So the two returned to the warp room and headed for Air Crash.

***

Coco knew she didn't have enough time to find this secret entrance. She figured her brother would do each portal in order so that meant he was currently in the sixth area. The seventh area looked like Hang Eight with the river, piranha plants, and jet board. Before getting on, Coco spotted a platform out on the river. This made her think, why was there solid ground out there if she couldn't dock there? She then spotted crates in the water that led to it.

Putting two and two together, she jumped on the crates, landing on the platform. When her feet touched it, a portal took her to a different warp area. There was one portal that read Snow Go but the other entrances didn't have one. Coco could see the three islands out in the distance which was something. Getting back on track, she jumped in the only portal and found herself on ice, literally.

"Eep!" She struggled to keep her footing as she saw seals, penguins, and hedgehogs. Not one to trust wild animals, Coco spun them away as she picked up speed. She and her brother had to work on balance in case they ever had to deal with ice. Guess the real deal came sooner rather than later.

Things weren't much better when nitro crates started littering the path. Coco spun a steel crate to make a steel bridge across a gap. The rest of the way was a nightmare as nitro crates were everywhere. It made her realize she didn't have Aku-Aku with her. He would use his powers to protect her and her brother if they ever got hurt but she was on her own. However, she remembered her training with sliding and jumping to dodge nitro while at the castle.

It took patience and a clear head but she made it through. The penguins and log stomps weren't a problem as she was fast enough to make it through unscathed. She finally reached the end, falling on the main path and getting the red gem on the way down.

"Whew. Okay. Not bad for my first time on ice." Coco held the red gem close. It felt like the other gems she got so far. She kept it close as she made her way through the rest of the path.

***

A new text told her the red gem now opened the path in Snow Biz. Seeing that her brother was not in there as there was a crystal in the slot, Coco made her way through. It was like the path she was on with ice and penguins. When she got to the path by the red platform, things got harder.

First, there were two hedgehogs in a row. Followed by a crates covered in tough steel and a TNT crate overhead. It was a good thing both bandicoots remembered to ground pound. Coco broke through the reinforced crates and used a bouncy steel crate to activate the TNT. There were a lot more of them as she carried on. There was also lots of Wumpa just floating in the air. Hungry, she ate some to regain strength.

After running fast enough over a collapsing bridge, Coco came across two sets of steel and wood stompers. Studying the timing, she slid across only to see nitro crates on another fragile bridge.

"*sigh* It's never easy."

She quickly made her way across, avoiding icicles and finally reaching the nitro detonator. She spun it and got on the platform that led back to the main path. The rest of the way was a breeze compared to all that. Upon reaching the end though, Coco saw a penguin that looked different from the others, wearing a purple scarf.

He turned to notice her, "Another one?! Well if you want the crystal here it's gone."

Coco noticed a hint of displeasure in his voice. Not wanting a fight, she stayed calm. "I already know. I just came here to get the gem."

"Gem?" the penguin's eyes were wide. "You actually went on that death path?! No one's ever made it through in one piece!"

This made Coco feel flattered. No stranger's ever complimented her or her brother's skill. "Well, it was hard. I do not recommend it. I don't know if it resets or not but...it's not worth the hassle. I'll be on my way now."

Once she left, the penguin pulled out a communicator. "You were right about her. Those two are strong. I guess we don't have anything to worry about."

***

Upon returning, Coco decided to return to the first warp area so Crash couldn't bump into her. With the gems collected so far, she could use them to hack into Cortex's devices. Maybe now she could get a better grasp on his plans and see if he really was telling the truth. She wanted to give her brother the benefit of the doubt but after what they went through last year...she couldn't take any chances.

Just be careful big brother. Don't let love cloud your judgement.

Chapter Text

Air Crash was a breath of warm air after dealing with snow and ice. The jet board section here was a little more challenging though as there were more mines and barriers to ride around to make it through. Aku-Aku had sensed another path with crates they could not access here so that was a bummer for Crash. It had been awhile since he got a gem. While the crystals were important, he couldn't help but try to assist Brio too.

After squeezing through nitro in the water, Crash jumped across a hippo and a sinking platform to make it up another small waterfall. Jumping up, the seventh crystal was off to the side.

"Huh, I think this is the earliest crystal we collected so far" Crash commented.

"Possibly" Aku-Aku added. "Now we just have to survive the rest of this area."

They went across more sinking platforms when Crash spotted something. It looked like a moving platform but it had a skull with crossbones on it. "Hey Aku, what's that?"

The mask looked at it, "I do not know. But considering the sign it has, it's best that we avoid it."

Crash was about to do so but something in his mind made him stay. Why would this be out in the open? It had to mean something. He had the crystal already so it wouldn't hurt to check it out. He hopped on and it floated off making Aku-Aku follow.

"Crash! What are you thinking?!" he called out.

"I just wanna see where this leads" Crash answered. The platform stopped at another river where small, circular platforms moved down in a straight line, submerging when getting to the edge of the waterfall. Crash could see where they popped up along with sturdy platforms so he knew what to do. He hopped across each one and came across a hippo between two sinking platforms that rose and fell at different times.

Seeing this, Crash figured this was a timing thing. The hippos he jumped on earlier sank after a few seconds when he jumped on them. That meant he had to time this perfectly. He jumped on the first platform after counting how long it stayed above the water. After two seconds, he jumped on the hippo as the previous platform sank and the other rose up. He then safely made it across.

Aku was relieved that Crash knew what he was doing but he was still concerned. This path was clearly more dangerous than the one they were on. Crash then got on a jet board and used the ramps and gas to jump over the walls on the river. The way to the dock was guarded by three mines so Crash had to wait to speed past them. He got off and hopped across on the hippos where he saw an exit.

"The exit! Guess we went the right way" Crash exclaimed.

"Or it could be a different exit" Aku-Aku contemplated. "There were no crates on this path and we were only here for a short time. The other main paths were at least two minutes long."

Crash shrugged and walked inside where a gem was. "A gem! But...I barely broke any crates."

"Fascinating" Aku floated to it. "It must be a reward for completing a challenging path. With how you like collecting gems, maybe those skull platforms can be helpful. Provided we get the crystal in that area first."

With the gem in his possession, Crash was beginning to think. It was clear that some gems weren't just collected because every box was broken. There was this one and a time trial one. Who knows what other tasks he had to complete to earn gems? For now though, he had to focus on crystals.

But that doesn't mean he should ignore collecting gems completely.

***

Aku-Aku had to rest so Crash was on his own for Bear It. He didn't know what to expect but he figured it would involve bears. To his dismay, it was in a snowy area. Crash was shivering again when he spotted a small white animal. He learned they were polar bears from what his sister taught him. Which meant they would eat anything and were very strong. After his encounter with seals, Crash wasn't taking any chances.

He started off but felt something rub against his leg. He looked down to see the polar bear cub nuzzling against it. This shocked him. No wild animal had acted this way towards him.

"Hey uh...I'm sorry but, I can't interact with wild animals." Crash tried to shake him off but the cub looked up, smiled, and actually barked. Now this was getting his attention. As far as Crash knew, bears can't bark. The cub then got in front of him and moved his head as if to say "Hop on."

Still unsure, Crash accepted the offer. It was hard moving through the snow and ice and the cub was very friendly to him. Once Crash got on, the polar bear quickly bolted off.

"Whoa!" Crash gripped onto the fur. This animal was faster than he looked. It was like riding the hog from the village but this one felt much smoother and less jerky. The cub even seemed to have some awareness as he jumped over totem poles and large gaps of water without commands. He even got Crash close enough to grab the eighth crystal and smash the crates.

There were also seals to dodge along with standing totem poles and TNT that was already counting down. The ice wasn't a problem as the cub slid along while keeping control. The gaps of water were becoming more dangerous as large fish jumped out on either side. Crash didn't get a good look but he did see they were black and white like orcas. Those could be the orcas I read about he thought. He regained focus as he spotted nitro ahead. "Look out!" he shouted, hoping the polar bear could understand the warning.

It seemed he did as he ran around them. The cub then hugged the left side of the path, away from frozen water. A cliff where the exit stood was coming up making the cub screech to a halt, not wanting to go over the cliff. The inertia made Crash fly off and land perfectly on his feet next to the nitro detonator. After he spun that, he looked back the the polar bear who was heading off in another direction.

"Nice bear but...why did he help me? We just met" Crash spoke to himself. He headed back, picking up the box gem and returning to the warp room. This adventure was certainly full of surprises.

***

The polar bear cub was heading back to his home when he heard shouting. Curious, he followed the noise to see humans carrying objects or digging. While people did live in the Arctic, there were never this many in one location.

"Let's hurry up! The radar says there's four crystals around here and northern Canada!" a robotic voice shouted. The cub turned to see a man with a missile in his head holding a megaphone. He then pulled out a communicator, "Are you sure this is necessary Dr. Cortex?"

"Of course" a voice from the other end replied. "I have faith in our ally but it doesn't hurt to chip in. Not to mention Brio's trying to sabotage us with his creations and we must dispose of them. He's already used his potions to make fly traps spit explosives and make the bees even more deadly. I even heard that some of my assistants turned against me because of him."

This sounded like gibberish to the polar bear but he continued to listen. "Make sure the assistants here are all set. Once that's done, return to the space station. I'm quite fascinated by your current creation. It may be useful if needed."

"Yes master" the man replied. With that, the polar bear cub took in the sight. These humans were invading his home. Was that creature he guided also with them? It couldn't be. He looked like a nice guy. Screams brought him back as he saw larger polar bears chase after the people making them flee.

Good or bad, the cub didn't want that orange furry guy to become dinner. If he came back, the cub had to keep him safe so he can get a better understanding.

Maybe he could also get answers how drinking purple liquid from the water hole made him more aware and intelligent.

Chapter Text

"This isn't g-g-good at all. Crash is losing interest in c-c-collecting gems!" Brio paced the floor while the Komodo brothers looked on. "Coco has done exceptionally well in g-gathering the ones left b-behind but she must f-focus on hacking into Cortex's security."

"Doesss thisss mean we get to fight?" Moe asked excitedly. He enjoyed fighting as it brought exhilaration but his brother was more reserved.

"Easssy Moe" Joe patted his back. "I am confident in our ssskills but if what that book sssaid isss true, the bandicoot will be more dangerousss than excccpected."

Watching the cameras, Brio saw Crash pull out a crystal and a gem from the eighth portal. It seemed he hadn't forgotten the task which was something. One can never be too careful though.

"If we c-c-can't stop him from gathering c-c-crystals, we can at least make it so he d-doesn't have all of them" Brio planned. "Joe. Moe. Get ready. Once the tenth crystal is c-collected, ambush Crash and t-take the crystals. If you happen t-t-to see his face glow or his eyes change color, let me know. It will b-b-bring more information to see what activates it."

The reptiles bowed and headed off. While the book Nitrus would show them bored them at times, they couldn't deny that the prospect of amazing powers fascinates them. And from pretty gemstones nonetheless. The brothers always had an eye for gold and jewels. They even started plans for a mining community. But these gemstones could give them more. Moe especially wanted to know what he could do with this aether. Joe took it more seriously as he heard stories of people going crazy with power. Right now, these bandicoots and the colored gems they found last time were the key to understanding how aether works.

***

Crash could sense another chase was coming with the ninth portal being called Crash Crush and immediately facing the door again. Sure enough, after taking a few steps, a boulder was coming after him. It had happened so often Crash was desensitized to this. He was a fast runner and jumping over pits and mines had become child's play. After running across a long wood bridge, the boulder fell through the cracks.

Sliding under an electric gate, Crash discovered there was another path revealing he was leaving a fork in the road. Since crates tended to be on both sides of a path, he went down the right route and sure enough, there were crates. But there were also electric gates to slide under. The second one made Crash nervous as there was a pit on the other side. This meant he had to slide jump. He had done it a few times but that was when he knew he wouldn't get hurt or die if he failed. He could turn around but there were boxes on the other side.

"I can't let Brio down. The crystals might be important but if all gems are collected, he could have a change of heart too" Crash spoke to himself. "I have gotten better at slide jumping so..." He backed up the best he could without hitting the other gate and ran. Using the momentum, he slid under then jumped at the ledge. With that, he safely landed on the other side to his joy.

"I did it! I made it!" Crash cheered only to see he was alone. "Oh. Right. By myself." He spotted a platform which confused him but he got on. To his surprise, it brought him back to the fork in the road. "Huh, okay."

Crash continued forward and saw another structure which meant it was back to being chased. Running fast again, Crash slid under electric gates and jumped over pits. He dodged mines and nitro while hitting a speed pad. Another boulder later, Crash found the crystal. "All this for a crystal. They must be rare and powerful if they're placed in locations like this."

As he kept going, Crash wondered where he even was in the world. There was snow on the ground but it wasn't the Arctic or Antartica. Maybe it was somewhere where it snowed a lot. He and Coco did read about countries that had snow. Some were Canada, Switzerland, Russia, and to his surprise Greenland. He thought it didn't have snow but was stunned to learn it did and was covered in it for 85% of the year even though precipitation was rare. Not to mention it was one of the coldest countries ever.

The arrival of another boulder brought Crash back to the present. He noticed there were a lot of speed pads so he hit them. He was curious on why there were so many until he came across a crate encased in steel.

"Always a catch to something good" Crash sighed. Steel trapped crates could only be broken with a stomp/belly flop and those took more time. With only a few seconds before the rock caught up, Crash quickly belly flopped it and spun the other crates, having enough time to reach the exit. The box gem floated ahead to his happiness so he grabbed that. Maybe he could help Cortex and Brio at the same time with how fast he was.

***

When Crash and Aku-Aku entered The Eel Deel, they thought they would be under the sea as that was where eels lived.

That turned out to be false as they opened the door to find a sewer. A large one at that. The smell reminded Crash of the factories making him plug his nose. "Ugh! It reeks!"

"I know. This is my first time in a sewer too" Aku said. "I heard about them from the waste mask Quetzel and the way she described them made me want to avoid them at all costs. Let's hope the crystal is near."

They made their way through, spinning away machines that scrubbed pipes and rats wearing armor. There were also fans which puzzled Aku-Aku as fans were never put into sewers. The two then saw an eel in a watery area, electrocuting it every now and then, turning the water's colors from blue to yellow.

"Great. A dead end" the mask groaned.

Crash looked at him, "Why?"

"Well, water and electricity do not mix" Aku-Aku explained. "Water can conduct electricity and that makes it very lethal. I cannot sense another way across so-"

He didn't get to finish as Crash bolted across when the eel rested. To the mask's shock, the child was fine. He floated over and faced him, "Were you crazy?! Didn't you hear what I said?! I might have healing powers but I highly doubt I can resurrect the dead!"

Crash's ears drooped as he felt sad. What he did was dangerous. He didn't know if he would be alright but he couldn't let Cortex down. "I'm sorry. Since the eel wasn't emitting electricity I figured it would be safe. Not to mention we would be stuck."

The mask sighed, "Water affected by lightning is still deadly, even if it looks safe. But it seems you can safely go across when the water is clear. I do not know why this is but you must still heed warnings."

"Okay" Crash gave a small nod and the two kept going. There were more areas with eels. Some had wooden platforms to safely go across. Even without them, Crash timed how long each eel was active to safely make it to the other side. He then found a fork in the road. Going right, there was a bunch of nitro.

"Well it's not this way" Aku started to leave but Crash started to think. "Child? What are you doing?"

Making his way through carefully, Crash took a closer look at the wall. "Doesn't it seem weird that there's a bunch of nitro crates in a room that looks like a dead end?"

The comment made Aku think too. It was strange. As Crash got to the wall, he placed his hand on it only for it to go through. "Whoa!" his eyes widened at this. He then jumped through the wall and saw a secret path.

Aku-Aku followed, "My word. I didn't even sense this path. Must be a way to hide the crystal."

So the two made their way forward, timing the eels and avoiding rats and rolling waste barrels. While going across platforms in the water, Crash saw island carvings on the sides. This must be under one of the islands if these sewers have this he thought. Reaching the other side, there was a green gem but the path came to an end.

As Crash put the gem away, Aku sighed. "It was only a gem route. Which is good for Brio but with the path blocked we have to go back the way we came."

"Alright" Crash headed off. "At least backtracking hasn't been hard so far."

With the obstacles gone, the way back was okay. Didn't fix the eels though. The path had been short so the heroes were back at the nitro crates in no time. They then went down the left path and saw that was the right way. But after more obstacle dodges, there was another fork in the road.

"Again? I never knew sewers were this complicated" Crash groaned.

"Let's go left this time" Aku suggested. They did so and while it was a room, the tenth crystal was present. "Guess it doesn't hurt to explore" he smiled.

Crash grabbed it and destroyed the boxes present before heading back for the right path. Nitro crates were floating in the electric water but it didn't add to the challenge. After spinning or belly flopping boxes, Crash saw the way out was down below. He went down the hole and saw climbing grates on the ceiling.

This reminded him of his jungle training with Coco to keep their skills in shape. His arm strength was remarkable, being able to do pull his entire body up with no effort. Sure enough, once he grabbed the ceiling grates, he smoothly kept going. After hitting the nitro detonator, he climbed across while avoiding search drones. The other side wasn't far so that section was short. A few jumps over pits later, the exit and box gem were in sight.

Although Crash had to return to the cold warp area, at least it didn't stink. Still he felt happy. He found not just a crystal, but two gems! He did his little dance to celebrate when the room became dark. Cortex then reappeared with the hologram. "Ten of twenty-five crystals. You're on your way. I'm running low on power so communication from this point wil...be dif...cult."

There was static making it hard to make out what Cortex was saying. "Uh, what? Can you repeat that?" Crash asked.

"Oh sorry" the scientist was audible again. "I said remember, I'm counting on you." He turned the hologram off leaving the bandicoot alone. To hear that his creator believed in him made him feel joyful.

Crash started making his way to the elevator platform when Aku stopped him. "Wait. Remember the last time we rode this up?"

"I do" Crash nodded. "I also know that there will be another obstacle to try and stop us. But we have to keep going." The two got on as the platform ascended. Sure enough, there was a warping sound and they found themselves in an Arabic room with red curtains and many pillows.

"Huh. Quite classy" Crash took in the decor when a sword was thrown his way. "Yipe!" He ducked just as it got close. "Who threw that?!"

Two Komodo dragons in purple robes came out. One was fat and the other was skinny. "We are the Komodo Brosss Joe and Moe!" the large one proclaimed. "Hand over the crystalsss or perish!"

Crash frowned at this. He started carrying the crystals and gems in his pockets for safe keeping seeing as they somehow managed to fit. It seemed to be safer than just leaving them in the warp room where they could be stolen but that was a double-edged sword.

"I can't do that" he said. "Cortex needs them to save the world from a planetary alignment. You must be from Brio so tell him I am collecting the gems. It's just taking a little longer."

"Massster Brio doesss appreciate your work" the skinny one hissed. "But it'sss dangerousss to help an old foe. Asss a precaution, we can have sssome cryssstalsss while you get the ressst. Onccce all are found, we can know what Cortexxx isss really planning."

Crash was on guard but he did listen. He didn't know who was telling the truth and it will only be known if everything was found. The Komodo dragon also had a point of the dangers of assisting a former enemy. Still, he wasn't taking chances. "I'm sorry. I don't trust anyone with the crystals."

"In that cassse..." the skinny dragon got in front of his brother as he spun him around quickly. Crash actually had to move around to avoid him. His opponent got dizzy so Crash took the chance and spun him back, making him collide with his brother.

"Ow!" he shouted.

"SSSorry Moe" Joe held his head as he tried to regain focus. With his brother out of the fight, Moe started chucking swords at his target. Crash and Aku-Aku thought he would just throw them in a circle but he was actually aiming from them directly. Didn't help that his accuracy was almost perfect.

Crash tried to pick one up but the blade was firmly lodged in the floor. Joe had regained focus at that point and took advantage of the distraction. Moe spun him again much harder making him fly all around the room. Crash was starting to get tired. He never faced an animal foe this competent. Sure there was the kangaroo but that was achievements in ignorance. After spinning a dizzy Joe again, Moe had enough and decided to attack Crash head on.

"No one hurtsss my brother!" Moe swung his sword, unaware that he and his brother weren't supposed to fatally harm the bandicoot. Just as he was about to strike again, his sword was stopped mid-air. Moe's jaw dropped when we saw that Crash managed to catch the blade with his hands. It didn't cut through the skin and Crash was now staring down his enemy,

"You made a mistake fighting me" he softly said, his irises briefly flashing a brighter, sparkling green.

Moe didn't have time to notice as Crash kicked him across the room as Joe started to get up. He collided into his brother, knocking the two unconscious. Crash put the sword down and held his head for a moment.

"Whew. That...was unusual" he got out.

Aku came up to him. "Yeah...you actually caught the blade of a sword and knocked out two swordsmen with one kick. What was that?"

"I...don't know" Crash tried to remember a time he did something similar but came up with nothing. He could feel something growing as he was feeling more frightened while in danger. The closest he could come up with was fighting the Vortex's affects. He couldn't ponder on it any more as a portal sucked him to the third warp area.

***

It had been hours since his creations went to face Crash. Nitrus figured they were beaten which was proven true as Joe and Moe came back, holding their heads and stomachs.

"Couldn't get the c-crystals?" he said.

"No" Joe groaned. "We tried reasssoning but he refusssed."

"But we got clossse!" Moe chimed in. "I had him on the ropesss but he caught my blade and kicked me into Joe. He ssseemed to have sssomething in his eye before doing ssso."

Brio's eyes widened at that. "Wait. His eyes. D-D-Did they change color? Did those marks appear on his f-face?"

Moe shook his head, "Nope. Hisss eyesss were green from when we met to our defeat."

"And I did not sssee anything appear on hisss faccce" Joe added.

The man sighed, "Go rest. I'll have to t-take this into my own hands."

After they left, Brio looked through the Aether Stone book. It stated that the irises of a star child change to the color of the stone they bear when tapping into their powers. Since he didn't know which stone Crash could be the bearer of, that made it harder. Maybe it was for a green stone since his entire eyes were green when he escaped. That narrowed it down to the earth stone, the storge stone, the responsibility stone, the temperance stone, and the persecution stone. That isn't even getting into if the bandicoot was a star child or how to make the marks appear. If not fighting then what?

He then thought back to Coco. Her irises changed color when he gave her the yellow gem. They were magenta, like the kindness stone. Could both former generals be star children? He needed more information. The book he had wasn't enough. But right now, he had to stop whatever Cortex was planning. And all his hopes were on two kids. One who had hope for his creator's redemption, and the other who wanted clear answers.

Chapter Text

The third warp area was much warmer than before. The catch was it was based off the sewer areas with ankle deep water. This was far from what Crash wanted.

"Aw man! My socks just got dry!"

"A small price to pay for heroism" Aku-Aku reminded him. The lights dimmed so Crash got focused again as the hologram device turned on.

"Good show my boy!" Cortex congratulated. "Those Komodo dragons obviously lacked your reflexes!"

Crash smiled, "It was tough but not impossible."

Aku-Aku was suspicious however, "How do you know about the fight with Ripper Roo and the Komodo brothers?"

"This warp room has been tampered with by our enemies in an attempt to stop us" Cortex explained. "They blocked off the second and third warp rooms. I tried to reverse it but it can only be possible with their defeats. Even with the success, we must not get cocky. There are still fifteen crystals to obtain. I have also noticed you tend to be collecting gems along the way."

Crash got a little worried that his creator would be disappointed in him. "Well, I heard how powerful they can be so I didn't want them to just be laying around for anyone to take them."

Cortex took the response in, "You raise a good point. The gems I found provided much power before they were lost. I won't stop you from collecting gems but remember, the crystals are the main objective. Once all twenty-five are found and brought to me, then you can gather any gem you missed. Work hard, the world is counting on you."

The hologram turned off leaving both heroes alone. "I am beginning to have second thoughts Crash" Aku stated. "Cortex must be hiding something if he knows about these fights. He is also placing constant importance on getting the crystals."

"I have a funny feeling too" Crash agreed. "But like you said, we have to keep going if we're gonna get answers and a way out. I'm still hoping Cortex did become good." He entered the portal that said Plant Food. The mask followed close behind, worry growing with each moment.

***

There were a lot of nitro crates and mines in the river this time. It didn't help that there was another time limit to get a gem waiting at the end. Crash hit the gas on the jet board every chance he got and once he docked, he resorted to the slide jump to move faster.

"You've gotten better at the slide jump" Aku-Aku commented.

"All in timing" Crash dodged a Venus fly trap at that statement. He got on another jet board and had to avoid more plants that reached out to chomp him. The eleventh crystal was at the dock followed by another jet board session. Crash could see boxes on the platforms but he didn't have time to get to them. Not to mention there were more eating plants than the last two river areas. Getting off, he bolted to the exit where a yellow gem was. He grabbed it with four seconds to spare.

While tempted to head back to get the box gem, Crash decided to focus on crystals for now. The sooner he did so, the sooner he would learn what was going on and if he should give them to Cortex. He also noticed in the second warp area that Snow Biz had its gem collected even though he didn't get all the boxes. Was someone helping him secretly? Would the same thing happen with this area's gem?

These thoughts continued as Crash headed back. He never knew helping someone would bring so many questions.

***

With a title like Sewer or Later, it wasn't hard to guess where the twelfth crystal would be.

Crash and Aku-Aku arrived to the scent of sewage and musk. Going across a small pool, they found a lab assistant working with a flamethrower. Not sure if he was with Cortex or Brio, the two went around him when it was safe. It seemed he didn't even notice them.

There were eels in this sewer like the last one. Not to mention crates that had to be broken for the box gem. With the water clear, Crash destroyed them and jumped across the platforms to make it across. Away from the eels, he found what looked to be a yellow gem platform.

"Ooh. A way to another path that leads to a gem." Crash was about to get on when Aku stopped him.

"Hold on. It could lead to another dead end. We also have not found the crystal. What if we go past it if it's not a dead end? At least with the last hidden path it was not long but we do not know the length it would take to backtrack."

Crash wanted to object but he was right. They needed crystals first before they could hunt for gems. Fortunately, some were found while getting crystals. So the two continued on past sewer fans, sewer workers, waste barrels, and spinning away rats and sewer cleaner robots. With how many crates were being broken, it seemed a gem would be collected.

Some ceiling fans needed enemies spun into them so Crash could make it safely through. Strange but it did work. This lead to another fork in the road.

"Uhh..." Crash looked left and right. There was Wumpa on the left which could be the correct way but he also caught a glimpse of a nitro detonator and a silver ! crate on the right path. So he went that way first and spun them both before going down the left path. Sure enough, after going across two eel infested waters, there was the crystal with boxes that appeared due to the ! crate being activated. Like last time, it was a dead end.

After making his way back, Crash and Aku-Aku went down the other way and it wasn't long before they saw the exit. The box gem was in plain sight filling the bandicoot with glee.

"So we're about halfway done with getting crystals" Aku commented.

Crash did math in his head and struggled a little. He understood simple arithmetic but doing it without paper made it more challenging. "Seems like it, given how we need thirteen more crystals."

Heading back, Aku-Aku still felt concerned. It had been years since he saw someone desire crystals. Was Cortex always searching for them or was this recent? Humans didn't know about them so the only other being who wanted crystals was...

No. Not possible. With how Cortex searched the islands for animals to mutate, he must have come across the Master Crystal. With how vague he was with why he wanted them though, it brought suspicion.

***

"I'm getting worried Gin. I have a hunch that someone's assisting our enemy in stopping us. And the bandicoot and his mask are getting distracted."

Nitro came up to Cortex. "What are you suggesting we do? Should we search for the crystals ourselves? I noticed four are on this very station."

Cortex went to a communicator, "No. Our security's been turned against us and we don't have the skills to make it through. We just have to take extra precautions."

He turned on the communicator and worked the dials to contact the intended person. This was his first real mission. A chance to show his abilities. He had proven so much to Cortex already. If only what he went by was more intimidating.

"I have a task for you...Tiny."

Chapter Text

The leftover gems found provided lots of power to hack into Cortex's computers. Coco had been searching for a way out of the warp rooms along with finding out what the scientist was planning. It still wasn't easy as there were firewalls set up to keep snooping eyes out. Even so, she found something that partially confirmed her trust issues.

There were blueprints for a very familiar device. It looked like the Cortex Vortex but it was applied to a space station with a laser. A large crystal was seen in the power source, surrounded with twenty-five smaller ones. There weren't any words that explained what it was but due to Coco's past experience with the Vortex and what Cortex wanted, it wasn't hard to learn what it could do.

With how the rest of the files were encrypted with codes, she couldn't hack further without more power. Switching to the security cameras, she saw her brother come out of a portal with twelve crystals so far. Coco had to let him know what she found so she hacked into the hologram device. She had to put her laptop down and step back so her whole body could be in shot.

"Crash, Aku-Aku? Thank goodness you're still alright."

Aku-Aku smiled, "Moments of close calls but we are okay. How are things with you? Did you find a way for us to leave the warp rooms?"

"No. I'm still working on that" Coco replied. "I've been hacking into Cortex's computer and found detailed schematics for an improved Cortex Vortex and his suspicious looking space station."

That got Crash's attention. "Wait? Cortex Vortex? The device that tried to remove my intellect and free will?"

Coco nodded, "Yes. Which makes you think. If Cortex really did turn good, why are there blueprints for a device that turns rational souls into sensitive souls on his computer?"

Crash tried to come up with a reason, "Maybe they're old plans he never got to throw out?"

"I'm not sure about that. He would have done so already. I think Cortex may be trying to-" the hologram got cut short. What he heard made a pit form in Crash's stomach. Was Cortex lying about turning good? It couldn't be. Lots of people leave old plans on computers and forget to throw them out. Don't they?

Aku sensed turmoil in the bandicoot. "Hey. It may not be what we think it is. There's no context to get the full picture."

Crash eased up at that but the thought remained on his mind.

***

Coco groaned as the hologram connection was cut off again. It seemed every time she was making progress, something prevented her from going forward. She needed more gem power to stand against the security.

The sound of a new text brought relief. This mysterious person must have more missing gems to pick up. The texts shown proved her correct. Cortex is catching on and wants Crash to completely focus on crystals. Gems are being collected at a slower pace. While he does not know about you getting them, it won't be long before he does.

Texting back, Coco started to wonder who this person was. It had to be someone who worked for Cortex once if this person knew what he was doing. So I need to move faster to get these gems? Sounds good. Where do I have to go this time?

The third warp area in the eleventh and twelfth portals. Your brother just entered the thirteenth portal so you won't risk bumping into each other. A box gem and a colored gem path gem. Nothing difficult.

Coco got on the platform and went up two floors. On the way, she sent another text. Once all these gems are found, will you please tell me who you are and how you know so much?

What she got was a clear answer, but still vague. Of course. You may or may not be surprised at the answer.

***

The first gem to get was in familiar territory. It was on another river but eating plants were everywhere. There was even one at the start! There were more moving platforms to ride across and hippos to bounce on before coming across the jet board. Coco was getting better at it, even with the sparse amount of times she did so. Which was good, considering the amount of whirlpools, nitro crates, and mines to avoid.

"Why are these even in the water?" Coco said to herself. She missed having someone to talk to face to face. It filled the silence. Sure she was solo in the castle but it was due to splitting up to cover more ground. Here, Crash and Aku-Aku didn't know what she was doing. They probably thought she was still at the beach! All things considered, both were doing fine on their own. In fact, Coco was feeling more confident with each outing. While stronger together, she and her brother were just as capable alone.

Getting on the next jet board, Coco had to swerve all over to avoid the plants. It didn't help that they had very good range. One got close but she bonked it on the head.

"I'm not food!" she shouted. It didn't understand her to her annoyance but she kept going. Docking again, Coco saw another jet board but she also saw more crates on a platform ahead. So she went along the platforms first, spinning the plants and the crates. She then went back and got on the jet board. The crates in the water were a breeze so all that was left was the nitro detonator. Once that was spun, the box gem was in plain sight.

"Well, much more straightforward that some other gems" Coco held the gem in her hands. "This really shouldn't take too long."

***

To say Coco was not pleased that the next gem was in a sewer was an understatement. She heard how dangerous they could be, not to mention the foul stench from all the waste. After questioning how she was able to cross clear water after an eel had electrocuted it, Coco found a yellow gem path. "This must be it" she got on it and it descended below.

Upon getting off, Coco came face to face with water completely encased with electricity. The way across consisted on floating platforms and steel bouncy crates. Despite her fear, she made her way across slowly. She tended to use tactics when faced with a platforming challenge. One could not just simply run to the end as fast as possible. Her method proved successful as she made it across and found the gem floating in place.

"Alright that makes..." Coco counted with her fingers on the gems found between her and her brother. "Twenty? How many gems are there anyway?" With the fact that there were twenty-five crystals Crash was getting and this was area twelve, there were probably going to be more than twenty-five gems overall.

Remembering that gem paths lead back to the main path, Coco kept going forward. She spun a lab assistant and made her way across another pool of electric water. On the other side was the gem platform. She got on and it took her up to a wall of crates. There were TNT crates so she couldn't just spin her way through. There was also a cleaner robot going back and forward. An idea in her head, she spun the robot at the crates and they blew up. Next she came across a fork in the road.

Seeing Wumpa on the left, Coco thought that was the right way only to see it was a dead end. Still, she was hungry. She then went down the other way and came across the exit. "There it is" she jumped on the platform and made it over. She made it back to the warp room, slightly annoyed her feet were under water making her socks wet.

The sound of another portal made Coco run back on the elevator and head down. Her brother must have found the thirteenth crystal. She couldn't risk having him see her with how Cortex was taking more precautions. Back at the first floor, she sat down and used the newly found gems to give her laptop more juice. Her phone went off again with a new message.

We are more then halfway there. Your brother found two more gems, one by exploring. Both of you are remarkable. It seems there's a chance to bring an end to Cortex.

How many gems are there? And how do you know about Cortex? Coco texted back.

There was a whole minute before she got an answer and a not-answer. There are forty-two gems. As for my knowledge on that man, I have learned so much. Stay sharp, you may need to head back out for the fourth floor. For now, keep digging for the truth.

Coco just sighed. She should have expected a response like that. She went back to hacking, having an easier time getting through security with the new gems. The sooner she found the truth, the sooner she and her family could get out.

"At least my muscles get to rest. While short, those gem pick ups were challenging."

Chapter Text

Crash was on his own again for Bear Down. Aku-Aku was looking around to find a way out of the warp rooms and promised to come back with results. Arriving, Crash walked out to see a snowy area. After walking down a few slopes, he found a polar bear cub. He made his way to Crash and nuzzled his leg, confusing him.

What is this? he thought. Is this the same polar bear from before? Hard to tell since polar bears look alike. It can't be. This looks like a different location.

Before Crash could ponder on it any longer, the cub got behind him and got between his legs. He then bolted off with the bandicoot riding on.

"Gah! A bit of a warning!" he exclaimed.

It was the same as the last polar bear ride. Boxes to break, water holes to jump over, orcas to dodge, and totem poles to jump over or run around. Then after turning a corner, there were two lab assistants lifting and lowering a steel rectangle box. It was hard to guess the timing so the second the men lowered it, Crash took his chance.

"Uh, I don't know if you can understand me or not but do you have a quick burst of speed you can do?" he asked.

The cub must have understood as he quickly jumped over the rectangle. Another turn later, there were two more lab assistants doing the same thing. It was lifted this time so the cub ran under it. He then used another boost of speed to make it over a large gap of water. It wasn't long before more lab assistants and seals appeared.

Crash was starting to feel queasy with the constant jumping. How he didn't feel sick with the constant spinning was one of nature's mysteries. He fought to keep his food down as he saw the thirteenth crystal. He grabbed it and focused on getting the box gem.

There were more lab assistants to jump or duck under. Not to mention one crate was cleverly hidden behind a totem pole. The ride would have been very bumpy but Crash had gotten used to it. From the hog to the blimp and jet board, he had gotten a good grip on fast moving objects and living things.

After going under one more pillar, the exit was in sight. Rather than be thrown off this time, the polar bear jumped with Crash hanging on. As they fell, Crash spotted floes of ice that looked like platforms. One was bright but the others were dark. This made him curious.

The polar bear landed next to a nitro detonator allowing Crash to spin it. "Thanks...again" he said. He started heading back, collecting the gem but then he felt something pull his sock leg.

"Huh?" He saw the cub pulling like he was trying to tell him something. "You wanna come back? I don't think that's a good idea. Polar bears live in the Arctic. I can't take you away from your home."

The cub just kept pulling so Crash gave in. "Alright, what is it you're trying to say?"

Walking back out, the cub used his head to point to the water. "You want me to jump in?" Crash guessed. "Uh, I'm not a swimmer and the water has to be freezing."

Shaking his head, the polar bear used his paw to move along the water to splash some up on land. He did this a few times until a small puddle was formed. Crash knelt down to get a good look and spotted specks of purple in the water. He heard the cub bark again making him look up. He watched the animal act out licking something, pointed to his head, looked around, and motioned to the water.

Crash was never one for charades but he seemed to get a good idea. "You drank from this water and it did something to your head?"

The animal nodded before motioning to Crash, making noises, and nodding. That one was more cryptic but based on how the cub has been nodding and responding to what Crash said, he had some context. "So by drinking this water, you can understand me?"

The response was a nod and a happy bark. "But how is that possible? Why does this water have a purple substance in it? What even is it?" Crash asked.

There wasn't a long explanation this time. The cub just pointed to Crash and then the water. "Uhhh...I'm sorry. I can't understand that. Are you able to talk?"

He got a shake of the head so that was a bust. "I can try to see what made this happen" Crash promised the polar bear. "For now, I have two missions to complete." He jumped across the dark platforms before landing on the bright one. He then vanished in a hidden portal.

All alone, the cub looked for a way back. He hoped to see if that bandicoot had something to do with the water but he could only communicate with his limited method so much. Looking at his paw prints in the snow, an idea slowly formed in his little head.

He summoned his claws and started moving them along in the snow. It was going to take a long time but with the words he heard and signs he saw, he could pull this off.

***

Crash was stunned to see he was in a hidden warp room. Not only that, it was outside. "Wow" he gazed out at the ocean. He could see all three islands from here. Looking around, he also saw two active portals. One led to Snow Go and the other led to Air Crash.

"Did I activate these portals?" he said to himself. He couldn't remember doing something for the first one but then he remembered seeing the gem for Snow Biz being found which could only happen with the red gem. That means someone else activated the first portal and accomplished that. He wanted to ponder on it more but decided to keep going. Aku was probably done searching the warp rooms and must be worried about him.

So Crash entered the newly opened portal and found himself in a new section of the seventh area. He saw a jet board so he hopped on and destroyed the crates. With how Aku-Aku said that getting the crate gem wouldn't be possible with just the main path, this must be where the rest were.

As Crash steered around the planks of wood, he came across nitro and mines. This made things more tricky. It didn't help that some crates were right next to the nitro. "Come...on..." Crash inched closer and got the last one before making his way to the end. Speeding past a whirlpool, he got off and spun the nitro detonator.

"A dead end?" Crash was puzzled at first but realized this must have a hidden portal. Sure enough, when he stepped at a certain spot, he was warped to the start of the main path. He never did get to see the entire path due to going on the death route platform so this was going to be interesting.

It started off like last time, riding a jet board, smashing crates, and dodging anything that was grey, black, red, or green. He hit the gas on ramps to get crates and fly over barriers.

Regardless, he kept going on. He came across the death platform so this is where the familiarity ended. After destroying a pile of crates with TNT, he saw a set of platforms that led to four boxes. With how far apart they were, it was clear he needed to slide jump. "Good thing I've become more confident with this" Crash readied himself and made his way across. Even with his growing comfort, he wanted to regain his double jump ability again.

While getting the crates and dodging, Crash had time to think about that polar bear. He never knew non-evolved animals could have heightened awareness and it seemed the water had something to do with it. He then remembered that mean penguin with the purple scarf who could talk. Did he also drink tainted water? If so, how could he talk but the cub couldn't? Maybe he should ask Aku-Aku when he saw him again.

The end of the area came rather fast. He spun the final box and headed inside where the gem was. He grabbed it and headed back. Returning, he was in the second warp area. So he got on the elevator to go back to the third floor. His eyes widened when he saw the eleventh and twelfth areas had both gems when they previously only had one.

"I'm as surprised as you are."

Crash jumped at the voice and saw it was Aku-Aku. "Do you know what caused that?"

The mask shook himself as a way to say no. "I am unsure. It appears there really is someone working for Brio. A good thing as we can put more focus on the crystals. I couldn't find a way out of the warp rooms however." He then faced the bandicoot, "Where were you anyway? I highly doubt the thirteenth area was that long to complete."

"Sorry, but the polar bear cub I rode showed me a hidden gateway to a previous area so I could get the box gem there" Crash explained. "He's very aware and can understand me. He tried to explain that the water he would drink made him like that and I want to know how that's possible."

Aku just stared blankly. "Uh Crash, polar bears may be smart but I highly doubt they can act like that."

"It's true! I think that penguin we saw also drank that kind of water, making him talk!" Crash went on. "You've seen mutated animals. Is it possible that something like this could happen?"

"Well...yes" Aku-Aku admitted. "But the only person who can make something like that is Brio with his potions. And since the castle exploded, all of them must be destroyed. Even if the potions landed in the water, with the currents, I highly doubt they could reach to the Arctic and Antartica."

Crash took this in. He did see what Brio's concoctions could do. It wouldn't be out of there that he made something that could enhance mental capacity. Did some manage to reach that far out?

His head hurting with all these thoughts, he readied himself. "We can ask Brio if we ever hear from him again. Considering we only spoke to him once, I don't know if it's likely."

As the two went into the fourteenth area, they couldn't deny things were getting interesting. Second thoughts about Cortex, gems missed suddenly being found, and now regular animals having slightly higher intelligence? This adventure was almost as head spinning as the first one.

Maybe even more.

Chapter Text

With the fourteenth area being titled Road to Ruin, Crash thought he and Aku-Aku were going to the temple ruins on Wumpa Island. Upon arriving, he noticed the ruins were very different from what he experienced in the last few months.

There were tiki heads that sometimes spewed fire, rodents, moving pillars, and the area didn't look like a city. It was also nighttime rather than sunset. Crash was quite fascinated at the sight.

"Ooh. What kind of ruins are these?" he asked Aku-Aku.

Taking a closer look, the mask had an idea. "I think these are from the castle from our last adventure. Look up ahead."

Crash squinted in the distance and saw a tall structure that was practically stripped of metal. "You're right. And I think the wildlife could have been affected by it."

He then set off and saw a metal ! box to the side with crates further back. His slide jump couldn't make that distance but there was also a rat going back and forward. Waiting for the right moment, Crash spun the rat hoping it would hit the box. Sadly, it didn't.

"Must have a hidden entrance somewhere else too" he mumbled. Crash continued on the main path, taking in the sight and spinning or sliding away enemies. There weren't just rats but also frill lizards walking on two legs. After jumping over a flame spewing tiki head, Crash spotted the crystal up ahead. He also came across a death platform.

Aku could tell what Crash was thinking. "Get the crystal first, then we can come back."

The bandicoot did so, feeling the platforms crumble underneath. He grabbed the crystal and came back to see the platforms miraculously be restored. Figuring it had to do with concoctions being spilled here, Crash ran back and got on the skull platform.

Once he arrived, he saw a gorilla throwing logs across platforms. Crash either jumped over them or spun them away. The sight of one did confuse him. "Um Aku, do gorillas live in Australia? I read that they lived in Africa or zoos."

"That is true" Aku-Aku replied. "Gorillas are not native to Australian wilds. Some highland gorillas do live here but normally, they are not capable of living here. Perhaps the animals Cortex captured were not restricted to this continent."

The fact remained on Crash's mind as he jumped across spinning platforms. How long had Cortex been taking animals out of their habitats? He might have gotten them from zoos but it seemed he got all of them from the wild. Is he even aware that some are still lost and want to go home? Did the evolution process make them adapt to this environment? He had to tell Cortex about these animals. He could help them and show how he's changed.

After avoiding another gorilla, Crash had to carefully make his way across moving pillars. It felt slippery, making him look behind himself to see if he was stable. Making it across, he jumped over two flames and found a gem.

"Another gem, but...I don't see the exit like last time."

"I highly doubt all dangerous alternate routes are the same" Aku-Aku told him. "Look, that skull platform will take us back to the main path." He motioned to the route next to their current one.

Crash got on the platform and sure enough, he was back on the main path. He ran down descending platforms, ran across more falling ones, and jumped back up to see more flaming tiki heads.

If someone ate a barbecue for lunch, I think that would be the result he thought. He made his way through and saw something that really made him scratch his head.

"Look! Monkeys!" Crash pointed to two primates with a rat and a frill lizard.

"It seems Cortex did take animals from other environments" Aku looked on. "Monkeys cannot survive in Australian wilds."

The two avoided the animals, surprised that they did not attack. Most seemed content just wandering around in this home. With the exit ahead, Crash thought about Cortex's past experiments even more. His impact had spread far than just these islands. Was that man aware of this? He seemed more focused on getting crystals to save the world. A good reason to not want to talk much yes but, he should help the animals who were impacted by it.

If he captured animals from other continents, who knows what other things he did in the past?

***

Tiny mindlessly scratched his head as the short man went on about something. The last year was interesting, even if he couldn't understand it. First, he woke up in a room with the man explaining how he used a "Revive-O-Tron" and an "Evolvo-Ray" to bring him to life. Then he was sent through tests involving destruction which he passed. Finally, he went through a device that made him loyal to the man to a fault before being sent off to train with a funny man who had a robot voice.

While he had an official name, the tiger liked "Tiny" as it sounded funny. The man in charge wasn't for it but allowed it due to how obedient he was. He tended to forget the man's name at times but finally remembered it as Cortex. Right now, he was giving him a mission. And explaining it for the fifth time. As he had trouble paying attention.

"Ugh! Okay, let me put this in the simplest of terms" Cortex rubbed his head as he pulled out pictures. "Crystals, important."

Tiny nodded as the man changed pictures. "Bandicoot is getting them. Has fifteen. I'm worried crystals will be lost."

The tiger was following along much better to Cortex's relief. He changed the picture again, "You, get crystals. Bring to me for safety. I will send bandicoot to you."

Once he finished, Tiny smiled and nodded. "Finally! You get it!" Cortex led him to a teleporter. "I regained control of the warp room so once the bandicoot gets on the platform to go up, he will be brought to you. I will make him aware of your presence. Make me proud."

Tiny waved goodbye as he was teleported away. He couldn't speak yet so this was the best he could do. With him gone, Cortex returned to the Master Crystal.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" N. Gin asked him.

"Yes. I'm worrying the bandicoot is having doubts about my plan and could lose the crystals" Cortex explained. "By having some with me, I'll at least have enough power to accomplish our goal. Have you discovered who's been hacking our computers yet?"

Nitro shook his head, "Not yet master. I tried some hacking myself to see who it is but nothing! The hacker's skills surpass my own!"

As he left to work on a contraption, Cortex kept that in mind. He figured Brio was responsible for this, seeing how he hacked his holograms once at the start and having the motive of being replaced. But he didn't have computer skills, his specialty was potions. Not to mention with gems suddenly being found, it was clear the person was someone who was smart and athletic.

Either Brio made an animal to complete his task or he's teamed up with a former experiment.

Chapter Text

If there was one thing Crash would remember from this adventure, it was looks can be deceiving.

The title of the portal for area fifteen was titled Unbearable. With the word "bear" in there, Crash figured it would be another polar bear riding section. Aku-Aku decided to come along, hoping to see this polar bear cub Crash claimed had higher intelligence. Upon arriving, the door was in front, like the chase levels from before.

"That's odd. The title from the door didn't relate to being chased" Crash started heading out, eating some Wumpa lying around.

Aku-Aku kept his guard up. No doubt this was a chase. The two walked past a small hut but there was no trip wire this time. It seemed it was safe when a low growl was heard.

"Crash...was that your stomach?" Aku asked with worry in his voice.

"Noooo?" Crash turned around to see a giant polar bear with sharp teeth and bloodthirsty eyes glaring at him. The bear scraped his paw against the dirt, ready to charge.

"AHHHHH!" both heroes screamed and booked it before the bear started running. Crash didn't dare look back as he avoided the mines and nitro crates, slide under electric gates, and spun through fences. No matter how fast he ran, he could feel the polar bear being two feet behind him.

They managed to get under a small structure so the polar bear couldn't follow. Only thing was another one took his place. Even the boost pads weren't enough to get a far distance. "Uh Aku? How fast are polar bears?" Crash got out.

"At least thirty five miles an hour!" Aku-Aku replied. "You might be fast but I highly doubt we can outrun him for long!"

Bouncing on lizards, Crash spotted a wooden bridge. Relief in sight, he ran across, well aware the animal's weight would make him fall. Sure enough, it did. What stood out to Crash was that three boards were still intact. He did spot the crystal not far ahead so he got that and decided to examine the boards.

Aku took notice, "Child, we need to go this way. Even though it will lead to more ravenous bears."

Crash could feel his heart pounding at the thought of those beasts. Still, there was something about these boards that made him curious. "How come the entire bridge didn't break like previous times?"

"I don't know but I'm well aware that this is a bottomless pit" Aku-Aku said. "You should know that by now. Please step away as you're too close to the edge."

He wanted to but Crash could feel something. It was like that carving from Turtle Woods. If the feeling was what he thought it would be...

"Come on child" Aku tried to lead him back but then the boards broke. It took a split second to realize what was about to happen before both screamed. Instead of endlessly falling however, they ended up on an underground path with more crates.

"My word" the mask was in awe. "Another hidden path. I would be fascinated if the way to find them didn't go against common sense!"

Crash nodded at that. The room with a hidden back wall filled with nitro crates was one thing but this was just crazy! It was like there was someone who didn't want him to get the gems so the way to find some would make anyone else not think twice. "We better get going then. Maybe another exit is at the end."

That seemed like a good idea if it meant not being chased by more bears. After five steps however, there was a hunter lab assistant shooting a musket with slow moving missiles. Crash spun him away, not wanted to be hunted but it seemed for everyone he killed, there was another one. There were also ledges that can only be reached by jumping on top of crates in the air. Not long after, there were experimented turtles and armadillos close to the hunters. This was becoming a little too much for Crash. First a chase and now slow, steady movement to avoid obstacles? He actually wished some of his training at the castle involved this.

The end couldn't come soon enough. There was a platform past two nitro crates, a buzz saw turtle, and the last hunter. Crash got on and he and Aku-Aku returned to the main path. He activated the nitro detonator while realizing he was going to be chased by more polar bears.

"I am sure the end cannot be that far" Aku reassured him. "Be sure to save your energy for the end."

Crash could only ready his legs as he walked under the structure. The growl from another polar bear made him start running again. This was becoming bizzy work with the wood fences, boost pads, animals to avoid, and electric gates to slide under. It would be child's play if the bandicoot wasn't getting exhausted from running and crate smashing.

Reaching another narrow spot, Crash was about to faint when he saw there was one more chase segment. "I...can't keep going" he gasped.

The previous polar bear was banging against the entrance, making it clear Crash couldn't rest here. A light bark made him raise his head. Past the other side was a polar bear cub.

"Is that the cub you told me about?" Aku-Aku questioned.

"I don't know" the bandicoot got closer to see if it was when the next large bear was getting ready to attack. "Guess we'll find out!" Crash jumped on the cub and he immediately ran off. With him riding, Crash felt at ease, for two seconds as he almost forgot to hang on. The cub was much faster than the previous times, mostly due to being chased. The dodging around obstacles and jumping over large pits made it clear that this was the same polar bear cub. But...how did he get in these woods?

There wasn't much time to ponder on that as the cub flung Crash off, making him fly over a pit that the large bear failed to follow. Getting up, he felt a sense of dread. "Oh no. The cub! Is he okay?"

"I am sure he is fine. But we have to go back" Aku pointed out. The exit was in plain sight as was the box gem. Once he got it, Crash couldn't fight the urge inside and ran back to the chasm. "Crash!" Aku-Aku cried out. He sighed, it seemed impulsiveness was still a part of the child.

Slide jumping over the pit, Crash saw the cub alive and well to his relief. He was sniffing the ground like he found something. Aku caught up with Crash at that moment. "You really need to stop running off without warning" he then glanced at the cub. "What's even so special about this bear?"

There was a shimmering in the bushes the polar bear spotted. He nudged Crash to it and before long, the three were whisked off to the hidden warp room again.

Crash held the cub close, "Whoa. You really are a smart bear!" The cub gave him a friendly lick and glanced at the new portal that read, Totally Bear.

"Incredible. This animal might be more than meets the eye" Aku got close to him. "How are you so smart?"

The polar bear barked and motioned his head to the portal. Aku-Aku silently cursed himself for never learning how to speak polar bear. He never thought he would see one in person so he never thought to do so. "He wants us to go in the portal" Crash brought him back.

"Well...we don't have other options" the mask flew in after the two and saw they were back in a snowy area at night. There was a little bit of light that was enough to see. Getting in front of the bandicoot and his mask, the cub started moving his paw along the snow. It took minutes but he moved aside to allow them to see writing to their shock.

Call me Polar. Still lerning to rite. I have chueshtions.

The spelling was terrible but Crash and Aku-Aku had a good idea on what Polar meant. "Is it about the water you told me about?" the former asked.

Polar wrote some more, Yes. Watur taste funy. Change me. U did thes?

"No. I didn't even know about this until our last encounter" Crash answered. "Actually...there was a penguin that could talk but he looked like all the other penguins. Why would you think I was involved in this?"

Saw hoomans in hom. One call on fone Cortez. Man tants natoore. U look lik produkt. U no man?

Aku's eyes widened, putting the pieces together. "You must mean Cortex. Crash was a creation of his, being evolved into who he is today. He was an evil man but now he claims to be good. We've been having reservations the more crystals we collect but getting them is the only way to know everything."

Crash on the other hand was in thought. Cortex's men were in the area? Why were they doing that? Cortex would have told him about it. With every crystal collected he had more questions. Right now, he had to give some clarity to Polar. "I might have an idea. Cortex had a helper named Nitrus Brio who created potions that did crazy things. Some might have the purpose of enhancing intelligence. I don't know how but I think when the castle blew up, some potions mixed with the ocean and drifted all the way to you. Are any other animals affected?"

Polar listened to what the bandicoot said. The answer seemed clear but he didn't know if that was right. He wrote again, Mabe u find answrs. As 4 othrs, seals r awoke at niht, walrus is not eatng, and I also fel fine in no sno places.

"Wait, does that mean you can live in other climates without getting sick?" Aku asked.

The cub just nodded. He then looked off to the darkness and motioned Crash to get on. He did so and he took off. Aku-Aku hurried ahead to provide enough light to see.

This was much more dangerous than the last riding times. Crash could barely see in the dark and with the water holes all over, falling into one was a big risk. "Eep. Please be careful" he said.

There were also lots of crates to smash on the ground and in the air. Crash didn't know if Polar also had night vision with how easily he jumped over obstacles and located hidden crates but he was glad he did. He even jumped over a pool of water to narrowly squeeze in between the wall and a totem pole to get one box. Polar then dashed constantly to avoid the lifting assistants and TNT crates, jumping nonstop.

"Glad I'm getting used to bumpy rides" Crash clinged on. "But where's the crystal?"

"I do not think there is one here. Maybe only a gem" Aku suggested.

With one last big jump, the exit was seen. Crash climbed off Polar and gave him a pet, "Thank you for helping me. I promise I will find out what happened to the water. Hope I'll see you again."

As he watched the bandicoot and his mask get the gem and leave, Polar looked at the night sky. Everything was different since that day. He didn't feel he belonged with the other animals with how aware he became. He didn't share the same blissful ignorance of living a simple life anymore. Interacting with the orange animal gave him a sense of enjoyment. He was kind, helpful, and loving. Polar didn't want to lose him. He felt like real family.

With his decision made, he walked into the exit and was whisked away by the portal.

***

Crash arrived back in the third warp room. After everything he just went through, he did his little dance to celebrate making it back. He wanted to think of a name for it but then the hologram device turned on.

Cortex appeared with a smile, "My boy, you are more than halfway there. And...you look exhausted. What happened?"

"Chase...dangerous path...bears..." Crash got out.

"Yes getting crystals can be a challenge. Things have been getting harder too" Cortex went on. "The last ten crystals will be the hardest to gather. And m-" he stopped for a moment before continuing. "Our enemies will be sending their strongest forces to thwart you. They may even try to take the crystals from you."

Aku-Aku floated up, "Speaking of getting crystals, we heard that you sent some of your men to get them. Why is that?"

"To provide extra assistance" Cortex answered. "With how difficult things will get you could use some help. To make sure our enemies can't completely succeed, I would like you to give the crystals you found so far to Tiny. That way, even if our enemies get the last ten crystals, we'll have enough to overpower them."

"Who's Tiny?" Aku asked with suspicion.

"A loyal companion of mine" Cortex said. "I regained the platform elevator controls so it should take you to him. As for the holograms, someone's still tampering with them so I have to deal with that. I'll contact you again when you have completed the next warp room."

The hologram turned off leaving the heroes in silence. They were both thinking the same thing. "I am beginning to have certainty that there's something Cortex isn't telling us" Aku-Aku said.

Crash nodded, "I want to say no but...you might be right. I don't have all the crystals but he wants what I have right now? It's like he doesn't have faith in me to get them all at once."

The mask had sympathy in his eyes. "I'm sure he does have faith in you. Even so, it's best we wait until we have all the crystals." They then got on the platform as it raised up. The sound of a portal transported Crash to a room with nine floating platforms with spotlights.

A ferocious roar got his attention. Two claws burst through the steel door and ripped it apart. Standing tall was an orange tiger in a green loincloth. There was blood in his eyes as he roared again.

"Wh-What is that?!" Crash shouted.

Aku's jaw dropped, "That's a thylacine tiger! But...they're extinct! How is this possible?!"

Crash then remembered his time at the castle and his fight with Pinstripe. "Cortex has a Revive-O-Tron. Must have brought the fossils of one to life-AH!"

He was cut short when the tiger chased after him. He was much bigger than he was with sharp claws and teeth. Crash jumped around the platforms but the tiger was always close behind. He even jumped diagonally to throw him off. After awhile, some platforms were blinking red. The tiger was on a blinking one when it suddenly dropped to his surprise. He fell below and rode the platform back up but he looked less energetic.

Getting an idea, Crash kept jumping around, waiting for the platforms to turn red. It seemed the tiger wasn't very bright as he kept falling for this trick. With every fall he got more and more tired. During this, Crash wondered if this was Tiny. It couldn't be as this animal was huge. Must be one of Brio's lackeys to try and slow him down after taking out Tiny.

All but one of the platforms then blinked red. Crash quickly dashed to the sole non-blinking platform but the tiger wasn't so lucky. He fell below and didn't come back up.

"That was...interesting" Aku-Aku pointed out.

"Yeah" Crash agreed. He was then teleported away to continue his crystal quest.

***

Cortex could only watch as Tiny kept chasing after his ally to try and get the crystals. He knew he should have given him speech lessons so he could tell him he was Tiny and to give the crystals to him. Due to not doing so, Tiny was viewed as a threat and was incapacitated as a result.

"Master...are you...alright?" Nitro asked.

The scientist sighed, "I don't know if I should be angry but I did forget to tell the bandicoot what Tiny looks like. No matter. We'll try again when he gets the next five crystals."

"I'll go this time. I can talk so he'll know I work for you" N. Gin said.

"Good idea. Just in case, get your creation ready. I'll keep searching for who's assisting Brio." Once Gin left, Cortex couldn't help but wonder if his creation trusted him anymore. A part of him hoped he didn't because he actually still had fondness for him. The first year at the castle brought him hope and joy in years. There were times he wondered if it would be better if...

A sharp pain in the head brought him back. Focus! The crystals must be collected!

The pain ceasing, Cortex returned to the Master Crystal and the computer present. With its power, he should be able to see who's been hacking his files. He can't fail, not when he's getting closer.

Chapter Text

Crash didn't expect Hanging Out to be in another sewer. Two cleaning robots circled around the lab assistant and a pool of electric water was right ahead. Crash carefully made his way across and was now in a tunnel where cleaning robots were coming right at him as toxic barrels rolled back and forth.

"Not too difficult" Crash jumped over two barrels rolling at the same time.

"Don't be so sure child. It always seems easy at first" Aku-Aku reminded him.

Smashing the crates at a dead end, Crash fell down a hole and saw grates on the ceiling along with security drones. It was then he realized why the title of the door was the way it was. "Alright then..." he jumped and grabbed on the netting and made his way across. The drones were slow so finding an opening didn't take long. While he couldn't look down, Crash could tell the pipes were scalding hot so letting go now wasn't an option.

He reached the other side and walked on, seeing more drones and a wall of crates. He set of a TNT to get rid of all the crates at once and squeezed between the drones as they went up and down. Crash then came across another monkey bar segment which he swore the sight of it made his arms throb. Still, he climbed through it, spinning crates and waiting for the drones to move.

With how quiet Crash was, Aku-Aku could tell something was going on in his head. "Thinking about a lot aren't you?"

The bandicoot jumped over another pair of drones. "Yeah. We still haven't found a way out of the warp rooms, I'm having doubts on Cortex's motives, and Coco must be worried sick about us. Is it normal to have second thoughts when helping someone?"

"We all have conflicting thoughts, especially when doing something that may not be the right thing to do" Aku explained. "You are still young and have not experienced much of the real world. I am sure with enough time and guidance, you'll develop a well-thought out moral compass."

"Hmm" Crash spun another set of stacked crates and fell down another hole where the sixteenth crystal was. He could have sworn there was another hole on the other side of the water but figured he was seeing things. Avoiding rats and nitro, he spun the detonator and went across one more pool of electric water as the exit was seen. The box gem was present too which brought a smile to Crash's face.

"I really hope that's the last of the sewer areas. That stench is becoming too much."

Aku did his best to nod. "Indeed. I'm sure the next area will be more pleasant."

***

The mask was partially right. Diggin It was outside in Northern Canada with trees and rich soil. The air was fresh and small piles of snow scattered across the woods. It looked peaceful and welcoming.

Then one of the plants spit a bomb at Crash.

"Argh! I think these plants have been affected by Brio's substances too!" He ran past the plant quickly before it could spit another one. Thankfully, they only seem to spit forward.

Two more plants were seen further ahead. Jumping over the explosives, Crash then came across the mines from the chase areas. "Why are these here?"

"I don't know" Aku-Aku replied. "Best to still avoid them."

The next sight was peculiar. It was a tiki head with a happy and sad side. It moved erratically and was trying to hit Crash making him side step around it. "What was that?"

Aku looked back, "Fascinating. I have heard of souls being sentenced to inhabiting tiki heads but I never expected to find one here."

Hearing about souls in objects made another question pop in Crash's head. "Aku, why are souls in masks or tikis?"

Avoiding another volley of mines, a tiki, and plants, the mask explained. "Sometimes, a person has unfinished work before moving on. Some have sins to atone for while others have guidance to pass down before leaving. There are a fair few who's job is never done. I do not know how I became a mask myself. All I know is that when I was human, I constantly worked to the point of exhaustion, never having time to socialize. One day, I collapsed after a heart attack and woke up to find myself in this mask. I thought voodoo or mojo magic was used but the power I felt wasn't either of them. I met other masks with similar stories and they told me the powers they wielded helped keep them alive. If a mask ever loses all power before a goal is accomplished, the soul will leave for heaven or-"

"Whoa!" Crash quickly stopped as an electric gate turned on. He slid under two of them and waited for the third one to turn off. Things got harder with a plant spitting bombs inbetween two alternate timed gates. The heroes made it past another tiki before Crash spoke again. "So once your job of keeping the islands safe is done, are you going to leave me and Coco?"

Aku-Aku looked down, "That is what will happen but...when we saved the islands last year, I didn't leave this mask. I figured my goal is to ensure the world's safety. It's possible with my previous life, I also need to learn to form a lasting companionship. Due to you and your sister being children, you still need guidance before going out alone. Just know that I will be there for you, even when my time has come."

Crash slowly nodded at this. A part of him regretted asking that question but it was better for him to know this early on. One day he will be on his own. He had to be prepared for it.

The two then came across a fork in the road. One had a skull platform and the other was the main path. Due to the crystal not being found yet, they went right. After a few steps, Crash heard something.

"Uh, what's that sound?" He turned around to see a small insect coming out of a hive. His heart rate increased due to recognizing what it was.

"BEEEEE!" Crash started to book it, almost hitting the mines and not seeing a pit. Cortex had told him that bees were dangerous and would sting without a second thought. He ran across the boost pads and turned to see the bee was no longer chasing him.

"Come on Crash it was only a bumblebee" Aku faced him. "Yes it hurts when they sting but they aren't dangerous."

A lab assistant in a lumberjack outfit then walked by towards another hive up ahead. A bee flew out and stung him. He yelped and suddenly, his entire body inflated to the size of a balloon.

The sight made Aku-Aku stare off. "What?! Bees can't do that! Unless..."

"It was another one of Brio's potions affecting the environment" Crash finished. He really needed to ask Brio about this. If he ever showed up again.

Still he continued on, figuring out he could spin the bees away safely. Jumping over another gap, the ground felt softer and the crystal was just ahead. But there were also two bomb plants in the way. Crash felt the ground underneath him and he felt his animal instincts kick in. He dug underground and caught the plants by surprise. It was a good thing he remembered his digging sessions while training. With this, the plants and bees couldn't touch him. It made breaking the crates less stressful.

The end of the split path was up ahead. Crash wasn't in the mood to backtrack to the death route so he decided to come back later. Coming across more spitting plants, Crash noticed that one was on a small island. That's strange he thought. After detonating the nitro, there were more bees to outrun while dodging mines and lumberjacks that tried to hit him with their hammers.

"Hey! Don't you work for Cortex? We're on the same team!" Crash tried to explain. Inside his mind, he had doubts that what he said was completely true. Still, he spun them in self defense and found the exit. Upon arriving, his heart sank when he saw that he missed a few boxes.

"Huh? B-B-But I hit every crate I saw. Did the death route have crates?"

Aku-Aku was in shock too. "It seems some of those paths do have crates to destroy. That means..."

Crash's eyes widened when he realized that he would have to backtrack to get the box gem here. "Let's come back later. I need a break from these obstacles."

Returning to the mining style warp room, the lights started to dim. Since he didn't complete this floor yet, Crash figured that Coco was the one contacting him. Sure enough, the camera showed her.

"Guys! I don't have much time! Cortex is aware of my hacking and is having someone to try and expose me. I also found an updated progress report that says the Cortex Vortex and his space station are almost complete."

While slowly getting tired, Crash took in the information. He also had something he was curious about. "We'll keep that in mind. Something hasn't been right with Cortex's statements lately. While you're here, do you happen to know who's been getting the gems I've missed? I've noticed they tend to appear not long after that area's crystal has been found. Do you think Brio sent out one of his creations to do so?"

Coco was quiet for a moment before answering. "I'm not sure. I'm still searching for clear answers myself. See if you can get more information out of Cortex himself. But beware of his tri-"

The hologram cut short once again. Aku floated next to the bandicoot. "With how close we're getting, it won't be long before knowing if there even is a planetary alignment."

"Yeah" Crash looked at the door that said Cold Hard Crash. "Let's do this one next. After that last section, I could use something less nerve wracking."

The two entered the portal, just as the elevator arrived at the fourth floor.

Chapter Text

"Brr. Th-Thought I w-was done with snow."

With the familiar feeling of freezing to death, Crash wasn't surprised that Cold Hard Crash was back in Antartica. Penguins and seals slid down a hill making him move away. Past them were boxes on top of eight steel pillars, four on each side. Crash had to use his crouch jump to get the tallest ones. This was followed by slipping across the ice.

"Perhaps we should get you ice skating lessons when this is over" Aku-Aku pointed out.

"Eep! Agreed!" Crash struggled to keep his footing as he used his momentum to move forward.

He made it to a platform that took him to a cave. It was the standard obstacles in this section. Stomping logs, collapsing bridges, icicles falling from the top, animals, and crates to smash. Crash had to get creative when dealing with a hedgehog blocking an ! crate that would make a platform appear. Once he got across, he saw a skull platform.

Looking at Aku-Aku, he seemed to have a stoic expression. "No. We haven't got the crystal yet and with how dangerous these areas are, you could have trouble."

"But the last time we didn't go on one we missed a bunch of boxes" Crash said. "Maybe there's another skull platform at the end that will take us back to this spot. Not to mention the crystals here tend to be at the final stretch of the main path."

The mask wasn't sure but he did have a point. There seemed to be a pattern on where the crystals were in each theme. The ones in sewers were at a dead end or surrounded by water. The crystals in chase sections were found when the chaser fell into a pit. Perhaps the same would be true here. So the heroes got on and found the ground was completely coated in ice. Not a good start.

"Oh boy" Crash slowly inched forward and jumped over a nitro crate. He had noticed his momentum was present even when he was propped against a wall. There were moments of snowy grounds but most of it was ice. Sure enough, there were crates to spin too.

He slipped and slid while jumping and dodging obstacles. Crash then came across steel crates that were shaped like something profane but shrugged it off. His heart rate increased when more nitro littered the path, forcing him to squeeze between the ones on the ground and in the air. There were also more stomping obstacles. Wanting to avoid getting smushed, Crash used his slide to quickly dodge them. Unfortunately, he slid so many times, the speed he picked up made him slide past an ! crate which meant he would have had to go back and smash that box. Not to mention there was no second platform to bring him back to the main path, just a pit.

"Nonononono!" Crash tried to stop but it was too late. His fingers gripped on the ledge but it wasn't enough. He fell on the final stretch of the main path, collecting a gem on the way.

"Are you alright child?" Aku asked.

Crash slowly got up, "Yeah. Guess we have more complicated methods to get box gems. Does being a hero involve so much struggling?"

Aku gave a comforting smile, "Helping others can be hard sometimes. It can require a lot out of a person physically or mentally. Those who work to protect the world face all kinds of trials. It can be draining in the end. You are still young and despite your training, you need time to rest and recover. As you get older, you'll understand the sacrifices made to keep the world safe."

These words made Crash really think. He figured what he was doing was protecting the world but with what's happened and how vague Cortex was getting, he wasn't sure. Was he actually helping out with a nefarious plot? He should have asked Coco if there was a planetary alignment coming to see if that part was at least true. Hopefully he would get more answers once the twentieth crystal was found.

Past the nitro crates stood the eighteenth crystal. For the difficulty of that death route, at least he was right on where the crystal was. There were also more animals than normal along with stone discs going back and forward. The penguin near the start of the adventure crossed Crash's mind again. If that polar bear cub was able to pop up in different locations, maybe that penguin could too. Since he could talk, he could have a better explanation on why the wildlife was the way it was and how Brio's potions got all the way out there. Hopefully he would be in a better mood.

Avoiding one more rolling obstacle set, Crash made it to the exit. He walked past the transparent gem being reminded that he missed a bunch of crates. With how difficult this area was, the person getting the leftover gems was going to have a bad time. But Crash had to keep going and get the crystals first. He just wished the last seven crystals wouldn't require so much backtracking.

***

Compared to the last one, Ruination was a breeze. Tiki flames to time right, enemies to spin, and easy crates to destroy. One part that really annoyed him was spinning a ! crate only for nitro to surround him. Aside from that, it was fine.

A few steps from that was a gem path. Crash had not been on a gem path before but his curiosity got the better of him so he got on. It brought him to a path close by that was just a little out of reach. It had small platforms to travel across, gorillas throwing logs, moving platforms, collapsing platforms, and floating Wumpa to restore strength. At the end was a gem and another green platform.

"Ah, so there is another platform to take me back to the main route" Crash spoke to himself. Aku had gone ahead to find the crystal which allowed Crash to go on the alternate path. He grabbed the gem and hopped on the platform to catch up with the mask.

It was pretty straightforward from there. Either Crash was really good at training or there were hidden abilities he didn't know about. He then wondered how long he had been doing this. Hours? A day? Had he even slept once? He didn't feel tired but he did need to keep eating and drinking. After he would talk with Cortex, Crash needed a nap.

Dodging more flames, Crash set off TNT to take care of the creatures roaming around. Then there were three moving platforms spinning around. Crash nearly slid off of the last one but he made it across. He then saw Aku-Aku floating next to crystal 19.

"There you are child. I was getting worried."

"I found another gem" Crash pulled it out. "How many is that now? Just wanna know how many more are still lost."

Aku thought for a bit, "Counting the box gem as we'll get that one I say...twenty-seven. That means there's still fifteen gems left. I'm sure Brio will be happy about that."

Crash nodded as he continued to the nitro detonator and the final stretch. All it had was another log throwing gorilla. The box gem was all that was left.

Returning to the warp room, both heroes's eyes widened when they saw three more gems were collected. Two from Diggin It and one from Cold Hard Crash.

"My word. This mysterious helper does work fast!" Aku-Aku managed to say. He turned to see Crash's eyelids were drooping and he started to yawn. "How about we rest next?"

"Huh?" Crash moved at the noise. "N-No. I can...keep going. I'll rest...when...uhhhh" he passed out on the floor and started snoring.

The mask let out a sigh. Another thing heroes had to deal with was knowing when to recover. They worked so hard they fail to notice their exhaustion before it was too late. At least it was in a safe location this time.

Aku used some of his power to flip Crash over so he was belly up. That way it would be easier to breathe. "You're doing just fine. There's no rush" he said to him.

***

"Is your contraption ready Gin?"

Nitro removed a giant sheet revealing a giant mechanical suit. "I just finished the final touches. Heat seeking missiles, lasers, titanium proof sealant, even more lasers! No common weapon is a match for it. Only something made of raritanium can stand a chance against it!"

Cortex smiled at the sight. "Excellent. It will be useful for getting the last five crystals. I still can't believe you want to use it to collect the twenty crystals when the bandicoot arrives though."

"It's for a test drive" N. Gin replied. "I can also see how it fares in combat."

"NO!" Cortex shot the train of thought down. "You're not going to attack him! You're just going to get the crystals. Since our ally will know you work for me, he won't fight against you." Seeing the disappointment in his human eye, Cortex sighed. "But if you happen to see Brio's ally, you can do what you want."

Gin started getting giddy again. "Oh thank you master!" As he ran off Cortex checked the security cameras to see his ally was asleep. While he face palmed, Cortex didn't blame him. These sections were physically draining just by looking at them. He did use the cameras to find who was getting the gems but he could never get close. There was usually static when he would check sometimes.

As he checked the files, Cortex fought off another hacking attempt. "It just doesn't make sense. Who's been tampering with my technology?! Whoever's responsible for this has to have an IQ of 164, experience with my work, and access to electronics as advanced as mine! Not to mention this person could be the one helping Brio get the gems. But with how dangerous it is, one would have to have gone through training as rigorous as the ones at my castle like C-"

He then stopped himself before finishing, his eyes widening.

Chapter Text

It was getting riskier and riskier hacking into Cortex's computers. Even with the gems it was hard to get more information on what was going on. There was also fighting off attempts to uncover her identity. Coco's mind started to ache so much she longed for a chance to head back out to give it a break.

Sure enough, not long after her latest attempt to hack the holograms, her phone dinged with new instructions. "Finally some outdoor exercise" Coco looked at her phone to see where she had to go. The mysterious person actually sounded sorrowful in this one.

There are three leftover gems to collect. You have to go through the fourth floor as Hangin Out has a hidden entrance to a hidden level where one gem is. As for Diggin It, be patient and look everywhere. Leave no path non trodden. I wish you the best. It may be exhausting but what you're doing will save the world.

With that, Coco got on the elevator to the fourth floor. She noticed her brother and Aku-Aku had already entered the eighteenth area so it should be smooth sailing.

"Okay then, two box gems and a challenge gem? Shouldn't take too long."

***

Hangin Out was less disgusting than the last sewer area. It focused more on monkey bars and avoiding drones than trudging through sewer liquids. Even so, Coco was not fond of the stench. How would she even find the hidden entrance to where she needed to go? This path seemed pretty straightforward.

Then she landed in a pool of water. Looking around, she saw another path on the other side from the last stretch. She made her way over and found a hole that led to more monkey bars and drones that moved much faster and were lower. Coco had to pull her entire body up to dodge them which strained her arms. She didn't think she weighed that much. Finally, the end was in sight. It looked like a dead end but once Coco let go of the bars, she was teleported to the secret warp room again.

It had been some time since Coco had been here so she was stunned to see three portals were added. Two were marked as already having the gems found but one didn't. It was titled Totally Fly. Not knowing what to expect, she jumped in and found herself in a dark forest with only fireflies for light.

"A blackout area? Need to make something to handle these." Coco followed the firefly along, jumping over pits and spinning enemies and crates. The bugs wouldn't last long so she had to keep up a fast pace. It wasn't the first time she had to work through a dimly lit area. Her training would take place at night, not to mention walking around the castle during a power outage. Even so, the sound of crickets and not seeing much sent a chill up her spine.

There was a moment of panic when she went back for a box and the current firefly flew off. Thankfully, there were no pits and the next firefly was not far ahead. Before long, there were purple hovering drones adding a little more nervousness. Still, this was rather simple and not too hard. Just needed to look for the light when lost in the dark.

The pits were the main issue as there were a lot of them. Coco had to switch looking ahead and down to make sure she didn't misstep. It was peculiar that there also weren't a lot of crates. Some scattered here and there along with one blockade of nitro and another of TNT. Then she spotted reinforced crates.

"There's the difficulty" Coco didn't activate the next firefly as she knew they had a short time limit. If there were two, there had to be more ahead. She got on her hands and knees and slowly crawled forward to feel her surroundings. Her eyes can see well enough due to her species being nocturnal but she didn't want to risk just going in without a light. She managed to feel three more reinforced crates so she stomped on those then headed back to the lit area to handle the last two.

With the new firefly in hand, she continued on as normal. More pits to jump over and the last few boxes to spin or detonate. The exit came so fast Coco swore that she just got here. She got the gem and found herself back in the fourth warp room. "Okay. That wasn't so bad. Just one more area to go." She texted her unknown ally the update when she saw a text on needing to destroy any bomb spitting plant she saw.

Why that? Do you earn a gem for doing so? she thought to herself.

***

The constant obstacles and crates to break was starting to test Coco's patience. Finding the timing to avoid electric gates, tiki heads that moved erratically, and plants that would not stop spitting bombs. She took great pleasure in stomping on them. It didn't help that some plants spit in between two differently timed electric gates. By the time Coco reached a fork in the road with the left path having a death platform, she was getting exhausted.

"Of course. With the box gem not found yet some breakable boxes are on both paths." She went down the right path first as she figured it would be easier. Only to be wrong when bees started chasing after her. Her frustration made her violently chomp on Wumpa fruit when taking a small break. Sure she dealt with challenging parts before but this was too much. The gems last time were easier to find and didn't need this much hassle. Didn't help that she was alone with only a vague guider to talk to.

She finally reached the end of the right path and planned to go backwards on the left path only to see there was a large pit that can't be jumped over. With a sigh, Coco went back down the right path dealing with the bees once again. She did slam the plants her first time through so it wasn't too torturous.

Back at the fork, she got on the skull platform and was greeted by a pile of nitro crates. Coco hoped that was the worst of it only to be wrong with more plants, more mines, and more bees. Didn't help that some bombs landed on narrow platforms necessary to jump across. Even smashing through crates didn't do much to relieve stress. Coco could feel her face getting warmer and her vision darkening with everything that was going on when she saw a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of a gem.

"Some good news" she grabbed it and made it to the second skull platform that led to the main path. It seemed the worst was over only to be proven wrong with more obstacles in the final stretch. One plant was on a small island which made gears turn in Coco's head. Just in case, get both gems. There is no way I am doing this part again. After fending off lab assistant lumberjacks, she found the exit and got the box gem. With a gulp, she trudged back to the plant on the island.

While the mines didn't kill her, Coco did her best to avoid them due to the bees. She then found the lone plant still spitting. Timing it right, she stomped on it and was then whisked away by another portal back to the secret warp room. This time, the fifth and final portal appeared leading to Road to Ruin. A new text was sent so Coco looked at it and started to feel pale when she read it.

Excellent. I'm surprised you did all of that in one run. But we can't rest now. Each gem missed gives our enemy a chance to triumph. Your brother is still looking for the eighteenth crystal and I highly doubt he'll get the box gem there. Once you get the final gem from the third warp room, head to Cold Hard Crash. Be warned, it's full of ice, nitro, and there are boxes on every path to break. Including a steel ! crate at the end of the death route so you may need to go back and forth a few times. I saw this myself through Cortex's cameras. I wish there was another way but you and your brother are the only people capable enough to handle this challenge.

There were many thoughts going through Coco's head. Some not very nice. Even so, she swallowed her rage and texted back. Thanks for the update. Good thing I kept my training in shape.

What came next really made her think. Oh yes. You two are always strong. Maybe more than you realize. Always strong? Did this person watch over her and Crash in the past year? Not to mention he has access to some of Cortex's technology? Is it possible this person is...

"Could be possible" she said to herself. "After what happened...*sigh* Won't know until everything's been found." She then entered the fourteenth area, hoping for an easier time.

***

Sure enough, compared to the last two gems, Road to Ruin wasn't as aggravating. Coco started off avoiding flaming tiki heads and came across stacks of crates. She planned to just spin through them but something inside her sensed danger. So she carefully destroyed one crate at a time before finding a TNT crate. She set it off, took cover, and watched it destroy the rest of the boxes. One spin on the ! crate later, Coco was at the beginning of the main path.

At first things were going fine, boxes to smash, animals to spin away, and crumbling platforms to watch out for. However, Coco started to feel tired. This wasn't "end of the day" tired. This was "I am going to collapse at any second" tired. It is true she and her brother went through training and kept their skills in shape but they were still children! There were only so many obstacles they could handle at once. She wondered if Crash was feeling the same way with how much harder things were getting. It made things more dangerous as Coco was becoming less focused due to exhaustion, nearly misplacing a step a few times.

"Can't...stop" she munched on another Wumpa. "Exit...just ahead."

Due to the crates being easy to get, the level flew by and the gem was in plain sight. Coco found herself in the third warp area, putting the gem in her spacious pockets. She forced herself on the elevator and went back up to the floor above and faced Cold Hard Crash. "Just one more. Then...a nap" she readied herself and headed in.

***

"Is she on her way?"

"Well the crates reset even though all weren't broken so it's only a matter of time."

Penta and Gurin waited at the skull platform. The man who needed their help told them to stand there and wait for his ally. Penta did get to see her a few hours ago. She dealt with Snow Biz like it was nothing. But for some reason, they were told they had to "lighten some of her load," whatever that meant.

"You did say she's like her brother" Gurin said. "Polite and not wanting a fight."

"Yep. That man even said those two are unstoppable. Ready to handle any challenge without stop...ping?"

A furry bandicoot girl was slowly walking towards the couple. She looked cold, tired, and miserable. Looking at them, she said, "Oh...hi. Don't mind me...just cleaning up after my brother. Sure it involved finding a crate that was just out of sight but...hey, it will keep the world safe."

She was about to get on the skull platform but Penta stopped her. "Whoa whoa whoa! You can't go on that path! You look like you're gonna faint! I know how capable you are but you need to know when too much is too much."

"I know that" the girl rubbed her eyes. "But I'm one of two people who can handle paths like these. And there's a time limit to get all the gems."

Gurin approached her, "We can help. Penguins are better at walking on ice so one of us can handle the other route while the other can lead you through the rest of this section so you won't pass out in a dangerous spot. We have had experiences avoiding obstacles and squeezing through tight spots."

"I don't know. I don't want to put you two in danger" the bandicoot tried to object but then Penta got on the platform.

"It can be hard, but we like our home to be quiet so the sooner this is done, the sooner we get our lives back." With him out of sight, Gurin led her down some ice slopes. The girl ate some fruit lying around and it seemed to give her some strength to keep going.

The two smashed crates and avoided other animals while traveling. Gurin had to ride on the girl's back when jumping over pits. After avoiding stomping logs, the penguin spoke, "We never did get your name. I'm Gurin and the male penguin with the scarf is my mate Penta."

"Coco" the girl bounced on a bouncy steel crate. "How are you guys even able to talk? You're the first non-evolved animals I've seen who can do so."

Four ! crates were activated to make boxes appear in a row. While doing so, Gurin explained. "About six months ago, Penta and I drank from a water hole that wasn't crowded and it looked like paint was mixed with it. When we swallowed the water, we became more aware and intelligent. We could still understand our kind but we could understand people too. Our colony thought we were weird as we didn't have the same blissful ignorance of being just cute and cuddly. This made me and Penta wonder how this came to be."

The two jumped over nitro crates and squeezed between them to get one box. Coco then quickly slid past more stomping obstacles on ice while Gurin kept talking. "One day, a man covered in polar exploration gear arrived and asked for our help. Seeing he was a human, Penta demanded an answer on how we could talk and have more awareness of life. We led him to the tainted water hole and by taking a sample, the man said that it was his doing as we consumed some of his potions. Particularly the ones that grant speech and better understanding to non-evolved animals. He explained how they were lost at sea and must have mixed with the currents and has been working to prevent too many creatures from becoming warped by it. He promised to improve our lives if we helped him with something important, and it seemed to involve helping you."

Coco stopped for a moment, "Wait...potions? Did this man happen to stutter a few times when talking?"

"Yes" the penguin confirmed it. "You know him?"

Everything was coming together now. Having access to Cortex's technology, knowledge on her and Crash, and getting gems considering what happened in the last adventure. Coco had a lot to say but right now, she had to get this gem.

The girls then arrived at the final stretch where Penta was waiting. "Hey you made it. Not too far ahead."

Both winced at his state. His feathers were slightly burnt and he was holding his flipper making it clear he went through a lot going back and forth three times. He looked at himself, "Yeah it was a hassle, but I did it. You doing better?"

"A little" Coco put on a smile and helped him up, seeing the crates and pits ahead. Even in her tired state, she was still strong enough to carry two penguins. At the final stretch, the showed their skill too, spinning away hedgehogs and somersault jumping over the stone discs. At long last, the exit was seen with a gem on the pedestal.

"Finally" Coco hugged the gem close. "I can't thank you two enough. I hope I get to see you again. And with my brother too."

The penguins nervously looked at each other. "Uhh...yeah. I'm pretty sure we can find a way to Australia." They waved her off and headed home. Upon arriving, there were two giant bowls of ice cream.

"Whoa! Where did these come from?!" Gurin gazed in wonder.

Penta spotted a note. Reading it, it said, Thank you for helping me. It isn't easy being a hero but your efforts will not be in vain. More to come. LT agent.

"From our special human" he joined in on the treat. "As much as I like this, I hope this is the last of adventures like this."

***

Coco had a split second to get on the elevator as the nineteenth portal was shimmering. She returned to the first floor and pulled out her phone. There was a lot to talk about. First, there was a new text.

Fantastic! Words cannot describe how grateful I am. With no new leftover gems to get, you can rest for a bit.

With a stoic expression, Coco texted back, Sure, in a few moments...Brio.

There was nothing for a few minutes and then there was another text. How did you find out?! I mean...I figured you would know eventually as I'm not the best at anonymity but how?

Your little penguin buddies told me the story of their lives. How you told them how your potions made them talk. Enough about that, why are you helping me search for what Cortex is really doing? You aren't exactly a knight in shining armor.

The next text was rather long. There is something off about him. I heard how he recently learned about crystals. I might not know much but I do know they're dangerous in the wrong hands. Humans typically don't try to seek them out as the power they wield is unlike anything else. I also heard stories about masks who aren't like yours, having goals of their own that involve these crystals. It's true I have my own agenda but from what we learned so far on what that space station is, it's clear that Cortex cannot succeed. He's even becoming more involved, figuring out that you're hacking into his files alongside me. With your brother slowly losing trust in his creator, he is doubling down on his plan. We need to lay low unless it is necessary to head out. It's possible we can bypass all security with all forty-two gems. There's only ten left. For now, you can sleep Coco.

The texts stopped leaving the girl alone to think. Could she trust Brio? He always seemed unpredictable and with his mental state, he might not always be there. Even so, he was her best bet at uncovering what Cortex was planning to do with the crystals, his Vortex, and a space station. Not to mention, he used the name she gave herself rather than C2. But how did he know it? She couldn't recall if she told him it or not though. She had so much information to tell Crash, if she could contact him again. But she had to lay low until all the gems were found.

A bark brought her out of her thoughts. Coco looked to see a polar bear cub hiding behind a pillar. She was confused as to what he was doing here, seeing how animals like him can't survive in climates like this. But her tired mind made her suspend disbelief as he came over.

"Hi there. How'd you get in? Are you another animal who drank tainted water?" she petted his head and was stunned that he nodded. It was clear he understood her. He then licked her face and got behind her, like he was saying "Sleep."

With her eyelids drooping, Coco rested her head on his body. The fur felt soft enough and he was warm. In two minutes, she was out cold snoring while hugging her laptop. Polar glanced over at her, spotting four marks on her face briefly showing before disappearing. He then fell asleep too, hoping to see that nice boy again.

Chapter Text

This isn't good at all. The bandicoot is becoming suspicious.

Cortex paced back and forth in his space station. Nitro had already gone off to collect the crystals and the elevator was set to warp his creation to him. Still, he was uncertain if he was even going to get the twenty crystals. With each interaction, the bandicoot and his mask were losing trust and asking more questions. It didn't help that Cortex wasn't giving them much information.

"It will be fine" he said to himself. "He sees me as a father figure so he's bound to find it in his heart to listen."

Even so, you have to explain how the planets are even aligning a voice in his head replied. Along with the person responsible for this. By doing so, he'll have a better understanding on what's going on and why you can't give much away. The goal is just out of reach.

That did seem like a good idea. Cortex turned to the Master Crystal and got his hologram ready. No doubt the twentieth crystal was about to be found. He didn't have much time.

***

Bee-Having from the title alone made Crash shiver. He knew he was going to be chased by bees again in a snowy forest. Not to mention the lumberjack lab assistants and bomb spitting plants. There were a lot more digging sections though so Crash took advantage of those. He caught his enemies off guard through tunneling.

The first hive was in sight. "Don't worry" Aku-Aku reassured him. "Bees haven't caused much trouble as only one would pop up. There'll just be more hives than last time."

Crash seemed confident enough and walked past it. He then heard lots of buzzing and turned to see about five or six bees coming after him. With a gulp, he bolted past another hive, smashing a box on the way. He burrowed in the next soft dirt as the bees flew over him. The coast clear, Crash resurfaced, raising an eyebrow at the mask.

"Okay so I was wrong on the number of bees" Aku looked away for a moment.

"It's fine" Crash walked past three nitro crates. "I often forget there's one new thing to each area. Let's keep moving."

Electric gates made a come back and there was one moment where a crate was lodged between four nitro crates. It was a good thing Crash had precise jumping to avoid setting them off. The next soft dirt section had boxes above with nitro so Crash couldn't just dig underneath. More bees came after him only to be spun away. The further he went, the more comfortable the bandicoot felt. He had been through a lot of tough challenges and this one was a little easier since it was straightforward.

Then the heroes came across an unusual sight. Six nitro crates lined up as a staircase.

"Uhhh. This is...odd." Aku-Aku floated around the structure. "Were nitro crates usually set up like this during training?"

Crash got closer, "No, I don't think so. They're not even hopping like the others." He picked up a small stone and backed up to the previous soft dirt part. He threw it at the nitro and they didn't explode when it made contact. "Do you think...?"

Both heroes went up the staircase and when they got to the top, they were transported to another path. At this point, the two weren't surprised. They did see two gem slots so a secret was bound to be there.

After handling moles for a bouncy mushroom, Crash saw a purple gem floating in place. "Ooh. Another colored gem. Wait, didn't I find gems like these already? They look the same but the power I can feel is different. Like...they're not as powerful as the colored gems we found last time."

"Many gems have different properties. It seems the five colored gems we found have the same energy as the clear ones" Aku gazed at it. "It could be possible the crystals have that same power too."

While finding a way back to the main path, Crash spoke again. "I don't think the crystals and gems have the same amount of power. I can feel something strong with each crystal found. It's almost the same as the six rainbow gems that helped me take on Cortex." He felt his head hurt at that when he belly flopped an armored armadillo. Learning about powerful stones was exciting but also confusing. It didn't help that he didn't have a reliable source or history on what they could do.

"My history with the crystals are vague but with my knowledge on gems, we can gain a better understanding" Aku reassured him. "I do know that they should be in responsible hands and not to just anybody."

A bunch of sliding under nitro and jumping over bullets latter, the platform was found. It brought the two back a few feet from where the nitro staircase was so that was a relief. It was short lived with the return of bees and bomb plants. There weren't many crates during this part which was an upside as Crash could focus more on getting through the obstacles.

The speed pads also made a return to really avoid another swarm. Past a lumberjack stood the twentieth crystal, waiting to be grabbed. As Crash placed it away, he couldn't help but feel stronger with each one he got. It started small but it grew steadily. What energy did they emit? What would happen if all twenty-five were found? The sound of bees brought him back so he had to focus.

The final stretch was filled with soft dirt so the child just dug his way to the end. He destroyed the nitro and picked up the thirty-fourth gem. After the strenuous back and forth in some other areas, it was nice to have a little breather. Returning to the warp room, Crash did his little dance to celebrate his accomplishment. And with the fourth warp room completed...

The hologram turned on to show Cortex. "Be proud my boy. I believe you just completed the hardest challenges to get the crystals yet."

While flattered, there was a lot on the bandicoot's mind. "Look Cortex, I want to trust you. I want to help. But so much has happened since we started. I'm being told the gems are needed to save the world, I met animals affected by Brio's potions and your experiments, and you're sending out lab assistants to find crystals. Is there even a planetary alignment?"

Cortex looked around before talking. "I didn't want you to know but there is a greater threat behind this. If he knew of your involvement, he would have attacked you directly."

"Who?" Aku-Aku raised an eyebrow.

"While prepping the Master Crystal in my space station, I discovered that the opposition is being masterminded by an evil island spirit" the scientist explained. "It was the one responsible for our...misunderstandings in the past."

Crash didn't know what to think. Evil spirits? There were floating masks so is that what he meant? Even so, he kept listening.

"When Brio and I explored the island, the spirit took control of me, using my body to assist him in his plot for world domination. And he's at it again! Using all his power to make the planets align, giving him enough strength to destroy Earth! He's even taken control of my lab assistants and the wildlife, turning them against you. He also used his powers to spread the potions through water currents to infect as many creatures as possible." Taking a breath, Cortex went on. "The spirit will attempt to stand in our way. Be on your guard. When you go up the elevator, you will be sent to my right-hand man Dr. Nitro Gin. As a precaution, deliver the crystals to him."

Alone once more, Aku-Aku had become skeptical, but also thoughtful. "Evil spirits...they are common but the ones I heard of never went this far."

Crash was thinking the same thing. He did get an answer to his concerns but something still felt off. Cortex still wanted him to give what he found so far to a helper of his. Best call or not, Crash wasn't handing them over until he had everything.

"Guess we'll find the truth soon but first, I can't allow anyone to have the crystals until we know everything."

They headed up and were teleported to a set of three platforms. The vacuum of space was in the background. "Where's the man Cortex mentioned?" Crash looked around.

The sound of a machine made the two turn to see a man with a missile in his head piloting a mechanical suit. "You must be the bandicoot I heard about" he said in a robotic voice. "A pleasure to meet you."

Feeling on edge, Crash slowly got in a fighting stance. "Are you Nitro Gin?"

"Yes" the man confirmed it. "Dr. Cortex told me of your arrival, and he said to give the twenty crystals you collected to me. Lemme see the shinies!"

"I'm sorry. I don't know a lot about crystals but I do know they're powerful" Crash stared him down. "I can't just give them to anyone."

His heart started racing when the robot's arms revealed lasers. "If you won't give them to me, I'll just take them!" Gin activated the lasers making Crash jump and duck under them. This was far from what he was used to. He never had to fight giant robots before. How can he even fight one without weapons?

"Any ideas?" he asked Aku.

The mask seemed uncertain but he did have one idea. "Is there anything you can throw at him?"

Crash dug in his pockets and found lots of Wumpa he had been saving for later. Not the best but I got nothing else. He started chucking them at the lasers when they were about to fire and to his surprise, they actually did damage. The purple juices short circuited the machinery making both arms explode.

Nitro was shocked, "What?! My creation is impenetrable to any weapon!"

"What about food?" Crash yelled back.

Pressing buttons, Gin backed up. "Let's see if you can handle missiles if you still refuse to give me the crystals!"

The shoulders opened up and fired four missiles that fell from the sky. The furthest spot on one side the platforms was safe. Crash kept throwing the Wumpa at the open missile launchers but tended to miss. Part of it was due to the robot moving around. His accuracy was good but it was hard to aim while under fire. He finally got one shoulder destroyed and now only one missile came out of the other. Rather than rain from above, it went across the ground. A jump was all it took to dodge.

It wasn't long until the other shoulder exploded. "That's it! You asked for it!" Nitro piloted his suit to face the platform the heroes were on. The center of it revealed an even bigger laser. They moved out of the way just as it fired. Crash only had a split second to throw the fruit at it before it blasted again. He succeeded and by doing so, the entire robot exploded.

As N. Gin was launched away, he screamed out, "Dr. Cortex will be very displeased with your resistance! Prepare to suffer his wrath!"

Crash felt bad having to attack him but he would have died if he hadn't done so. He also wasn't going to give someone he just met the crystals when he was still unsure. He didn't have much time to think as he was whisked away.

***

Nitro was very lucky he impacted the space station when his creation exploded. He managed to get inside before losing his breath. It was almost lost anyway as he came face to face with the man in charge.

"Dr. Cortex. I'm sorry I couldn't get the crystals. I tried to reason with the bandicoot but he attacked me! He thinks we can't be trusted-"

He was cut off with a raise of the hand. Cortex then walked off without saying a word. While he didn't speak, Gin could sense a firery rage inside him. Proven right as he overheard him in the next room.

***

The final warp room looked much sleeker than the previous ones. There was even a window showing outer space. Crash was certainly in awe at it. "Whoa. The stars are all over and look much bigger."

Aku-Aku smiled at the child's curiosity when the hologram turned on again. Crash felt a little nervous at what was going to happen. He attacked someone who worked for Cortex. But it was in self-defense. If he explained, his creator would understand.

Oh how wrong he was.

"UGH! What is your problem bandicoot?!?! The task was plain and simple! Why didn't you give Gin the crystals?!"

Crash flinched at the sudden change in tone. "I'm sorry. I'm still unsure about handing the crystals to anyone."

Cortex just groaned, "I told you everything about what's going on! How can you still be suspicious?!" He took a deep breath before continuing, "There are five more crystals and they're in hard to reach locations. Two can only be accessible by jet pack. Can you learn one quickly?"

"I think."

"Good enough. Get the last five crystals and bring them to me." the scientist got really close to show he meant business. This made Crash shrink inside. Cortex got mad before but after hearing him say that when he's claimed to have changed, it hurt. But then he noticed that he got a good look at the eyes and they were blood red. Every time his eyes were that color, his attitude was more violent. It was like he was another person. Was it a condition? A personality disorder?

Aku floated next to him. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Let's just finish this" Crash headed off to Piston it Away leaving the mask alone to think. That domineering tone Cortex showed, the change in eye color, a desire for crystals. It felt familiar to him but how? He then recalled the mention of an evil spirit and stories of how people tend to get possessed on the islands.

"No...it cannot be. No one's crazy enough for that" Aku-Aku told himself. He then followed Crash, all while being unable to shake the possibility out of his mind.

Chapter Text

Crash was quite baffled that four crystals were in Cortex's space station. He thought all twenty-five Slave Crystals were on Earth but it seemed four were found already. He later learned some lab assistants took them and were guarding them until their boss showed up. So the heroes had to make their way through the machinery to get them. It was at least much cleaner than the last factories they explored.

The title of this area wasn't messing around. There were pistons from the very start. Some Crash had to time to walk past, others he waited for them to rise to another floor. There were also two kinds of robots walking around. One were bulky orange headgear robots walking on legs and the others were octopus like robots that open and closed their wires. When their centers were exposed, Crash jumped on them and destroyed them. The crates were easy to locate and break so this seemed to be easy.

Things were getting more challenging as more octopus robots were in between pistons and switched from being open to closed. Crash then realized he could spin or slide them when their centers weren't shown. During all this, Aku-Aku noticed how quiet his companion was. Not surprising due to what had happened.

"Have more doubts about Cortex's intentions?"

"Yes" Crash watched the piston across a gap go up allowing him to jump across. "He didn't have concern when Gin attacked me and his tone was more aggressive. It was like our first fight on the blimp." After spinning two walking robots, something dawned on him. "Wait, come to think of it, he hasn't called me by the name I chose for myself. Just 'my boy' or 'my bandicoot'. It might be due to not hearing what I called myself but he would have asked what I went by when he first talked to me."

This made Aku-Aku ponder on it too. "I did notice that. He might not have called you by your experiment number but to not use your name isn't much better."

A pipe was in the way with an octopus robot on the other side. So Crash slid under when the tentacles were up allowing him to send it flying. He then spun three crates close to nitro before coming across scalding bulbs and robots to jump and dodge. Avoiding two more pistons, the crystal was in sight.

"Wow, that didn't take long" Crash held it close. While he was more certain that something wasn't right, he had to get the last of the crystals. At least they would be in safe hands. If even one was found by an enemy, the world would be in jeopardy.

Not long after finding the crystal, there was a death route platform. This put Crash in a tight spot. He had seen different kinds of routes. Some had crates, some had none. Some led to another exit, others brought him back to the main path. What kind of route would this be? He did get the crystal so it didn't hurt to see. So he and Aku got on and it showed there were indeed more crates.

"Oh dear" the mask could sense another area with backtracking. "If this leads to another exit, you might have to go back and forth again."

Crash gulped at the thought of handling a lot of mechanical obstacles. Even so, he carried on, following a trail of Wumpa past a piston. Nitro and lab assistants with shields were in the way which meant the bandicoot had to push the assistants into the explosives. He then spun or bounced on the different robots, and it came in handy when he saw an octopus robot floating between two platforms. Crash timed it and noticed strange buttons on the ground. A walking robot stopped on one and it fired a blast that shrunk it down to an atom.

Taking note of it, Crash relied on his reflexes to avoid the blasts. Next were two octopus robots opening and closing at different times. After the first one opened, Crash waited a second before going across as the second opened. On the platform was the gem.

With how far out he was and with the distance too far to slide jump, the child realized he couldn't go back to the skull platform. So he got rid of the last robots and avoided the last piston to see an exit and nitro detonator. While he was relieved that was over, his heart sank as he remembered that the box gem was going to require more backtracking on the main path.

"One hurdle at a time" Crash said to himself. As tired as he was, he wasn't going to stop until he was sure the world was safe.

***

Entering Rock It, the heroes spotted a jet pack out in the open. "This must be the jet pack Cortex mentioned" Aku floated around it.

Crash had issues putting the pack on, having never seen one before. It didn't help that his guardian didn't have hands or arms to assist. The goggles were easier, just put them on his head. Once the pack was firmly on him, the door hatch ahead opened, allowing the heroes to travel through the station's tubes.

With the zero gravity now active, Crash felt very funny. "Uhh...what's going on?"

"Oh, you haven't experienced no gravity yet" Aku-Aku moved next to him. "Don't worry, I can help you. The jet pack can also be used to move forward."

With this, Crash pressed a button to activate the jets but since they were downward and were at full force...

"OW!" He slammed into the ceiling, slowly descending. As he rubbed his head, he tried lying flat so the jets were horizontal. The button was pressed lightly this time so Crash went at a smoother pace. With crates at different heights, this wasn't going to be easy.

Aku allowed Crash to grab onto him so he could guide him along. They would stop to slowly ascend and descend for boxes. Obstacles included lasers, small red bombs, and scalding pipes. The ache in Crash's head quickly receded to his delight and confusion as he could have sworn he had gotten a concussion. During the rooms with windows, he got a huge look out in space. Earth was down below and the moon wasn't far off. He couldn't help but stare.

"Stars look so much brighter off planet" he pressed against the glass to get a better look.

"They are" Aku-Aku said. "I have heard stories on life being on other planets but let's focus on Earth for now."

A TNT crate was present so the two were careful when activating it. There was also a lab assistant blocking the way. He seemed to have electricity coming out of his hands and one side of his head was robotic. This made Crash see that these men could be androids. It would explain their stoic, lifeless demeanor some had. He spun the robot into a firery blockade which cleared the way.

Going forward more, there were more bombs and nitro crates with one box in the upper right corner. "Easy child" Aku guided Crash slowly to that one box as the bombs got closer before repelling again. While still uneasy floating around, Crash was getting a better grasp on the jet pack. It helped that his stomach had gotten used to sudden shifts in g forces.

After spinning another lab assistant and avoiding nitro, the twenty-second crystal was finally spotted. A pair of exposed wires floated around so Crash ducked under to get it. He nearly hit a bomb but stopped just in time. The final firewall was dissipated by a third android, allowing the heroes to reach the exit. Crash took the jet pack off and set off the nitro to see the box gem appear. For a short path, it was challenging.

Upon returning to the warp room, Aku headed back to Piston it Away which got Crash's attention. "Are we going to get the box gem?"

"No child" the mask faced him. "I'm going to wait for the person who's been collecting the gems we have missed. We do not know if this person is working for Cortex or Brio or is going solo so it is best to figure this out before all the crystals are found. Do you feel okay getting the last three crystals alone?"

"I'll be okay. I was solo in Skylands with strangers so it won't be a huge jump." Crash did want to know who was getting the leftover gems. Friend of foe the person did save him from doing a lot of backtracking and adding more exhaustion to him. It also wasn't the first time we went out solo to get crystals.

"Make sure you're careful. I will get back to you as soon as I can" the mask went through the portal while Crash headed to Night Fight. The adventure was getting close to the end and he was feeling tense. With his recent thoughts and interactions, the idea that Cortex hadn't changed was becoming more likely. This meant that the crystals did need to stay with him to ensure the world was safe.

Filled with a determination to protect, Crash's four facial markings flashed for a second while he put the most recent crystal away.

Chapter Text

It felt nice to be back in a jungle area after being sent to locations out of Crash's comfort zone. The only issue was it was night and very dark. A firefly was present so that meant Crash would have to depend on it to see.

"Lead the way little guy!" he announced, hoping it would understand.

It started to fly off so Crash ran to keep up. He jumped over pits and spun a rat when he came across the second firefly. The first one had flown away which meant each one had a timer. The first crates were also found. Continuing on, there were more rats than boxes as the bandicoot noticed. Quite peculiar but it did add less stress as he was walking in the dark.

With a new firefly, Crash found himself at a crossroads once again. The left side had a skull platform which meant a gem was down there. He hadn't found the crystal so it was likely on the other path. Which way do I go first? he thought. The fireflies don't last long and I bet they don't reset. I might have some good night vision but it isn't enough to have a clear view. Maybe if I run fast enough I can save a bunch of light bugs.

His current firefly was close to leaving so Crash made his choice. He started off jumping over pits and picking up a new bug when he saw purple, spiky saucers. "Huh, strange" he uttered. More and more were seen along with rats and frill lizards. Even with that, the gem was quickly collected.

"That was fast, and not that hard" the child smiled as he went on. It seemed the biggest challenge for this death route was having enough light to make it past all the pits. Crash then saw two crates near the end making him thankful he decided to go left first. Upon reaching the end, he went back the other way. His current bug was still present but it wouldn't be long before his light ran out. He had to move fast.

There were purple saucers and nitro to avoid first followed by pits and a frill lizard. There were a few more crates but not much of them. It didn't even take long to find the crystal. "I can't believe this is one of the hardest crystals to find!" Crash moved past more saucers and spun crates on a nitro. "The obstacles aren't that hard and some even have a little light too. Guess things are lightening..."

He stopped when he reached the start of the fork and the last firefly he got flew off. Now he was in complete darkness with only the sounds of wilderness. It didn't take long for the gravity of the situation to seep in.

Crash wasn't a big fan of the dark. From sleeping in dank rooms to wandering around a generator room with little light, he always felt that something was going to grab him at any moment. At least he was with someone during those times. Here, he was alone.

"Why did I think I could do both paths at once?" he muttered to himself constantly. On his hands and knees, Crash felt around for where a pit could be. It did solve where it started but not where it ended. The saucers brought some light but not enough. It made him realize that jumping into something wasn't always a good idea. His eyes couldn't handle this much darkness as they had human qualities with his animal side.

"How am I going to get through this?" Crash slumped against the barrier. He felt lost and scared. Who knows how long it would be until Aku-Aku found him? A predator could have found him before he arrived. Curled up, Crash noticed his vision was changing. Everything was becoming different shades of green but he could see the entire forest.

"What the...?" Crash touched his face and felt a warm feeling on his forehead, cheeks, and chin. Did those markings come back? Why now of all times? Was it because he was in danger? He didn't ponder on it long as he knew it wasn't going to last the rest of the area. He made his way to the end of the crossroads, feeling more secure. Whatever this power in him was, he had to know its properties and how to activate it. He did have crystals and gems with him, is that what makes the markings appear?

With the split paths behind him, Crash passed two saucers and spun a crate before finding a firefly. His vision returned to normal at that point and for the rest of the way, there were no problems. Even so, Crash picked up something important, never underestimate an easy looking area, especially in the dark.

"Only two crystals and three gems left" he said to himself. "Considering the gem collector's got the missed box gem from Piston it Away."

***

Brio just finished sending information on the next gem to get to Coco as he heard footsteps. Joe and Moe came up to him, looking like they say a ghost.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"It'sss the male bandicoot" Joe exclaimed. "Look!"

He showed his creator a recording of a dark jungle. Crash slumped against a barrier when his eyes were completely green and his markings appeared. With that, he ran through the jungle with ease before finding a firefly for the final stretch.

This made Nitrus stare, "Now his aether p-p-powers activate?! The book did say star children t-tap into their powers in times of n-need but this? *sigh* It seems there's more information n-not recorded here. I would focus on this more but we have p-p-pressing matters. With two crystals left, Coco must get the last of the g-gems to unveil the truth."

"Do you think those kidsss can do it?" Moe questioned

Nitrus turned to a screen of Coco entering Piston it Away. While not on the same page, the two had come to a truce to save Earth. He couldn't tell her everything though as he didn't have all the answers on what was going on with her and her brother. The two people he talked to in the last year were cryptic and said the children will get answers at a later date.

Hopefully it will come sooner rather than later.

***

Pack Attack didn't need much explanation on what it had in store. Crash put the jet pack on with little trouble this time, figuring it out. He flew past four bombs and avoided wires before he found the first crates. There seemed to be a shorter amount of them in these final areas. Didn't mean it was easy to get them with how difficult controlling the jet pack was.

Without something to grab onto, Crash had to rely on shifting his body weight and positioning himself to move around effectively. It was enough to avoid lasers, scalding pipes, and wires but not enough to keep him from bumping into other things.

"OOF!" He slammed into the ground again when getting a crate. As fun as flying around was, he was not in the mood to add more bruises and scrapes to his current ones, even if they did heal rather faster than they normally did. Spinning another lab android and flying through a small circle of nitro, Crash took some time to think. All the crystals were almost found yet he still hadn't found a way out of the warp rooms. That problem could be solved when this was over but that led to wondering what will happen once he gets the last crystal.

I don't know what to do anymore. I'm still hoping for Cortex to turn good but after everything...I'm not sure anymore. I can't just give him the crystals if I feel conflicted. Not to mention giving the gems to Brio. He was more clear and direct in his intentions but he still sent obstacles to attack me. He was always strange back at the castle, saying me being attacked helps make me stronger. Ugh! I thought life would be easier when my family and I got our freedom! At the very least, these crystals may hold a clue to what's going on with me. They seem to emit a power that's similar to how I feel when my sight changes color or when my face gets warm. Do they have this aether too? A sudden flash of lasers brought him back.

"Yipe! Best not to think in dangerous situations!" Crash kept breaking the crates and flying over and under obstacles. With how long it had been since he found the crystal, it was likely at the end. It was more challenging getting the boxes while floating past everything trying to kill him. It culminated with a bunch of nitro in the shape of a cross with rotating lasers behind it. Not far from those was the crystal

"One...last...obstacle" the bandicoot carefully used the jets to move through an upper corner when it was clear. He then shifted right to get the crystal, slamming into the wall. "Ow! Worth it" he uttered. He flew through the last rotating bombs and docked at the exit. The nitro detonated, the gem appeared.

Now there was one more crystal to find. Along with two gems if the one he missed was picked up already. Crash thought about that too. I really hope the person finding the lost gems is a good person. I'll have to thank him or her if we bump into each other. I'm sure Coco will also like whoever that is. I just hope she's doing alright, doing lots of hacking on the beach alone.

Chapter Text

Polar woke up to the sound of a ding. He spotted the girl's pink rectangle having words on it. Figuring this was for her, he turned to see her still sleeping. He nudged her with his nose but she didn't budge. So he tried the next best thing, licking her face. It did work...but not in a pleasant way.

"GAH! Get away from me you lunatic!" Coco pushed Polar away as she woke up. Looking around, she breathed a sigh of relief and noticed the cub's confused expression. "Oh, sorry. It's best not to do that when I'm unconscious. It reminds me of an unwanted admirer" she shuddered at the times that kangaroo licked her face. Polar seemed to understand as he nodded.

Coco then grabbed her phone to see a new message from Brio. Time is running out. With how quick the last five crystals are being collected, it is clear that the paths are shorter than the rest. Your brother just went to get the twenty-third crystal but it's only a matter of time until he searches for the last one. I believe Cortex is putting more focus on receiving the crystals and dealing with Crash's suspicions. That gives you enough time to get the box gem from Piston it Away and the gem route gem from Spaced Out. I am not sure about Night Fight yet.

There it was again. He used the name she and Crash chose for themselves rather than C1 and C2. On her way up, Coco texted, On my way. But how do you know the names we chose for ourselves? I appreciate it but I don't know if we ever told you what they were.

Before I fought your brother last year, your mask called him Crash. As for your name...I may or may not have been watching over you two and overhearing your conversations. I am still fascinated by your prowess and want to know why that is. Rest assured this was only during the day.

This news made Coco feel uncomfortable. Someone spying on her and her family for research? It went against their goal for freedom. There were more important things to handle so she just replied, Once all the gems are collected and the space station is destroyed, I want you to stop spying on us. As a thanks for helping you.

Deal.

***

The first stretch wasn't anything too bad. There were robots, pistons, and piping hot obstacles to jump over and the boxes were in easy places. Then Coco came across the death route. She was aware that there were boxes to break on every path which meant she would have to backtrack. At the very least, there were no icy grounds nor aggressive enemies. Once all the crates on the main path were smashed, she would come back to this point.

Not even five feet past the platform, Coco saw something that made her clench up. There was an octopus enemy going back and forth below and this part was a few feet below a shrinking ray. Wanting to make sure, she went across, avoiding the enemy to make it to the next tall platform. Looking back, she realized that if the enemy there was spun away, she wouldn't be able to jump back up. "Ugh. We really need to relearn how to double jump" she grumbled. Seems there were complications to get this gem.

Even with that, the way through wasn't impossible. There were shrink ray buttons to quickly run past and there were even four right next to each other at one point. All of this made Coco more careful. She then spun lab assistants blocking her way down a pit and jumped up to get the last breakable crate. Just past it was the main exit.

"Now for the hardest part" Coco started heading back, facing down the four buttons that would activate the shrink ray. She couldn't slide jump across as she couldn't go far enough. Then a risky idea appeared in her head. Crash said he was able to spin some of Cortex's ray blasts away. Maybe... As she jumped on the third furthest button, Coco spun and it deflected the shrinking blast. "Huh, it actually worked" she gasped. A few seconds later, she faced her second obstacle. The timing had to be perfect. Once the robot's tentacles exposed the core, Coco jumped on it and had just enough momentum to reach the other side.

Breathing a sigh of relief, the bandicoot got on the skull platform to get the last of the crates. There was lots of timing to get down whether it was past pistons, having enough space to jump over nitro, and bouncing across tentacle robots to reach the next platform. Everything had to be precise. A crouch jump even needed to be used.

The sight of the nitro detonator made Coco smile. "Not as hard but still challenging" she spun it and went to the exit to get the gem. Only to be met with a shocking surprise when the door opened.

"AH!"

"GAH!" Aku-Aku floated back in surprise. "Coco? You're the person who's been getting the gems we've missed?! Crash and I thought you were back at the beach!"

Coco caught her breath before speaking, "I was worried when you guys didn't come back so I went to look for you. That was when I found the way to the warp room. I made a truce with Brio to get any gems you missed and with them, I've been able to hack Cortex's files. I couldn't let you know because I'm weary of Cortex's intentions and would have sent more obstacles to prevent us from getting the gems and knowing his plan. What are you even doing here without my brother?"

"I wanted to know who was getting the gems" Aku answered. "We didn't know if the person doing so was good or evil and I wanted to ease my worries. Seeing that it is you, it's clear there was no need to worry."

"Yeah, well Crash is very lucky he didn't have to go through what I did when getting some gems" Coco reached for her phone as it dinged again. The message read, Good news, you don't have to go through Night Fight as Crash got both gems. Bad news, he just got the twenty-fourth crystal and has entered Spaced Out. There is a risk of bumping into each other but don't worry, the path you have to take has no boxes to break and the platform that leads to it isn't far from the start. Once that gem is collected, try your hardest to find the truth and tell it to Crash. There's no time left for caution.

Seeing the text, Aku-Aku made up his mind. "I will help you on this stretch. If we happen to see Crash, we can learn the truth together."

The two returned to the warp room and headed into Spaced Out, hoping they weren't too late.

***

"Are you sure this is a good idea? It's rather risky, even for me!" Gin asked.

Cortex strapped on his jet pack and put on an O2 mask. "I know what I'm doing. Once the last crystal has been found, I'll wait outside the warp room's top floor to collect the Slave Crystals." He placed the Master Crystal away, "And in case I don't get them, I have a backup plan to ensure success. Make sure the space station is in position. Once I get back, I'll put the power source in."

He flew off towards the warp room leaving Nitro alone. As he carried out orders, a part of him was saying something was going to go wrong. The fight with that bandicoot showed that he was losing trust fast. Not to mention he managed to destroy his creation with fruit! If his boss and the animal were going to fight, it could be very one-sided.

So he got in a spare ship once the station was set. He had to prepare for a worst case scenario.

***

Upon entering Spaced Out, Coco and Aku-Aku could tell that Crash came through here. There weren't any enemies and there were splinters of crates scattered around. Didn't change the fact that the pistons were still active. After avoiding those, they saw a blue gem platform.

"That's odd, I did a blue gem path already" Coco glanced over it.

Aku-Aku had an idea, "I think this is a gem gauntlet. Only open when all the colored gems are found. I didn't see an orange one but it seems there isn't one to collect."

The two got on and landed higher up with pistons to time and robots to bounce across. When that was done, Coco got on a green gem platform. The obstacles in that section were mainly the shrink ray buttons. She had to spin one beam away while handling a walking robot.

The yellow gem platform had Coco wait for floating platforms to take her across while pistons blocked her way. She had to jump when the platform was moving away. The red gem platform was much simpler, spinning two lab assistants with barriers off the platforms while avoiding shrinking buttons. Finally, the purple gem platform brought her to the exit.

"Huh, that wasn't too bad" Coco grabbed the gem and started to head back but she didn't warp away. "What? How come we're not going back?"

"Looks like someone's turned off the teleportation here" Aku floated next to her. "Do you think you can hack into it and turn it back on?"

She didn't need to be told twice as she sat down and typed on her laptop. Aku-Aku had held on to the gems he and Crash collected so Coco had more power with forty-one gems. Even so, the coding was impossible to get through. She slowly got more and more frustrated but kept a stoic face. As Aku watched on, he saw the facial markings appear and Coco's irises turning magenta.

"Um...child?" he started but was cut off with a gasp as the marks vanished and the irises were emerald green again. It was his imagination but he thought he also saw a small lightning bolt come from her fingers to the keyboard.

"I found something. It looks like a camera recording from the space station." Coco played it and watched what it was. Five minutes later, both heroes were in shock.

"Do you still have access to the hologram device?" Aku-Aku got out.

Coco quickly got to work, "I may need to steal a signal but if it means getting this to Crash, it has to be done."

Chapter Text

Spaced Out wasn't much different than the last factory area. Aside from moving platforms with heated sides, it was identical. As Crash dealt with octopus robots, he spotted a blue gem path. He was tempted to go on it but chose not to, wanting to deal with the crystals first. With how early it was, it's likely he would miss the box gem too.

There was a tricky part with needing to bounce on a robot while a floating platform moved overhead. With patience, Crash had an opening and gained enough height to get on the platform. More pistons were avoided before dealing with nitro crates. It didn't help that robots with patterns and lab assistants with shields were in the way. "This is getting cramped" Crash uttered. Waiting wasn't an option right now as he wanted answers to everything. And that could only be done if all crystals were found.

Everything here had become background noise right now. There was some strategy but there wasn't a big risk of messing up. Then came the shrink ray buttons. Crash had to slide under blockades while avoiding one and spin another away while jumping over scalding hot cones. He even needed to wait for a walking robot to move after sliding to have enough room to move.

"I wonder if Aku-Aku found the person helping me get the gems" Crash wondered. It had been some time since they met up. Did something happen? With the power Aku wielded, there was probably nothing to worry about. The sight of the last crystal wasn't far ahead now, and the nitro detonator was off to the side with other crates. "At last" Crash held it close. He now had all twenty-five slave crystals with him. He could feel their power through an indirect warmth. How he would handle them depended on what would happen next. The exit wasn't that far, just a lab assistant and a piston with a shrink ray to avoid.

Getting the box gem, Crash stopped at the warp platform. The second he returned, he would have to make a choice. What he did could save or doom Earth. The only way to know was to head back. So he teleported back to the warp room and took a quick glance out the window. As he did, he noticed something strange. Cortex said the planets were aligning but the only planet he saw was Earth. Sure planets were light years apart but there should be some sign of other worlds. The sound of the hologram made him turn around.

Cortex was displayed standing, laughing and smiling. It sounded...ominous for some reason. All the more reason to be weary. "Yes! All the crystals have been found! And I have you, young bandicoot, to thank for it. Now if you can get on the elevator, I'm waiting at the top and you can give me the crystals."

"Actually Cortex, I have some more questions for you" Crash stood his ground.

"All right but be quick. The planets are almost in a straight line, in prime position to rip Earth apart." Cortex let him speak.

Crossing his arms, Crash spoke. "That's the thing. I looked out the window and I don't see any other planets. They might be light years away but there should be bright lights like stars that are them. Where are they?"

"Ummm. They're really far apart" the scientist answered.

Crash could swear he spotted a drop of sweat run down his creator's head. He asked the next question, "Next, when I defeated N. Gin, you lashed out at me even though he was trying to kill me. You were demanding the crystals that time. Why is that? People who want to save the world don't get furious when someone helping slips up."

"It was the evil spirit I mentioned earlier my boy" Cortex rushed out the answer. "Please if you can-"

"One more thing" Crash cut him off. "During the blimp fight last year, I told you the name I chose for myself. Not once have you called me that during this quest. What is it?"

Cortex was silent. Sure the people hacked the holograms said it so it shouldn't be a problem for him. But he stuttered and seemed lost. "Uhh...Willie?"

Before Crash could speak, the hologram started to glitch and static got louder. "W-What! What's happening?!" Cortex shouted. It sounded deeper than normal which confused the bandicoot. "What's that?! Is she stealing our signal?!"

He faded out and Coco stood in his place, panic in her eyes. "Crash! I found out what's going on! Cortex isn't going to use the crystals to contain the planet's energy! There isn't even a planetary alignment happening!"

"What?" Crash stared at her. He then remembered her mentioning an improved Cortex Vortex which meant...

"He's going to harness the force of the crystals and use them to power the super Cortex Vortex he's built on his space station!" Coco went on. "One blast and the ray will cover the entire world! Removing everyone's rational souls and making them into mindless, soulless slaves! He made up the aligning planets and evil spirit to ensure you wouldn't lose trust!"

Crash didn't want to believe it but after having suspicions for so long and Cortex not knowing the name he chose for himself, it seemed it was true. He could feel his fists clenching in anger and sadness. Even so, he paid attention to the last of his sister's warning.

"I know this is hard for you but you have to focus right now. Keep the crystals safe. Aku-Aku and I are working on a way to you but until then, don't let Cortex get those crystals!" the hologram faded out again as Cortex regained control. What he said before fully appearing caught Crash's interest for a moment.

Cortex you fool! She's telling him everything! I thought you had those plans completely guarded!!

Once the man was visible, he was rubbing his eyes. "Ah, yes. We're uh...we're back now. Pardon the uh..." he trailed off at the sight of the bandicoot glaring at him. "About what you heard...it's not what it-"

"Don't...lie" Crash growled. "I heard enough. You haven't changed. Have you?"

Seeing the truth was exposed, Cortex dropped the act. "Of course I haven't C1! How else was I supposed to get you to agree with me?! You're the only animal soldier I made who could handle challenges like this! All of my other soldiers were either MIA or too stupid to make it through the easiest path!"

Without a word, Crash dropped the crystals on the ground. "You can forget about getting the Slave Crystals now. Let me out of the warp rooms!"

Cortex only laughed. "You think that will keep me from victory? I figured you would have found the truth eventually but I never expected C2 to find a way to get the gems and discover my plans. I still have the Master Crystal and while I won't have enough power to affect the whole world, it should be just enough to put you and C2 under my control and make you into the generals you were supposed to be! Now if you'll excuse me, I have a mistake to correct."

The hologram shut off leaving Crash alone. A lot was going through his head, and something was coursing through his veins. He was angry but he could tell there was something more going on. Regardless, he had to stop Cortex. Reaching through Rock It, he pulled out the jet pack and put it on. As he did so, the marks reappeared on his face. They were a green triangle, pink square, red circle, and blue x but they occasionally flashed purple. The goggles went over his glowing green eyes as he walked on the platform. It rose up to the ceiling, making him turn his jets on.

***

"Let's hope Gin has the station in position" Cortex muttered as he held the Master Crystal. He started flying off through an asteroid field to his destination. "I can still salvage this. Once this is done, I can retrieve the Slave Crystals to ensure-"

He was cut off when a small asteroid hit his head. "OW! What was-" he turned to see an angry bandicoot flying towards him with a jet pack on. "Oh, it's you. Trying to stop me? Good luck with that! I've seen you struggle with that thing! It's impossible to handle with its inverted controls!"

Crash didn't say anything. He just kicked a larger meteor towards him and it flew as fast as a go kart.

"AH!" Cortex barely managed to dodge it. "O-Okay. I can see you're mad about me lying! But I do still care about you and your sister in a way. And not everything I said was a lie!"

That only made Crash head towards him. Feeling scared, Cortex flew off as fast as he could. It was hard to do so with the mines and space rocks in the way. He figured Crash would have trouble navigating through them but as he turned around, he saw the bandicoot glide past them with ease. Cortex then tried shooting at him with his ray gun but those were spun away. It didn't take long for Crash to catch up.

Tackling Cortex, he grabbed the Master Crystal and tried to yank it out. "Let go! I found this!" Cortex pulled as hard as he could. "And how are you breathing in space?! You're not wearing an O2 mask!"

He managed to get a clear look at Crash now, seeing a glimpse of facial markings. Through the goggles, it seemed there weren't pupils present. Cortex didn't have time to point it out as he could feel the crystal getting hotter, going through his gloves. This made him loosen his grip to try and cool his hands off, allowing Crash to take the crystal. Glaring at the scientist, he spun him so hard, he flew out of sight in less than a second. While it was space, he could clearly hear him scream.

Crash then looked at the Master Crystal. It was certainly bigger than the others. The power it wielded was strong, but it wasn't as powerful as what was going through his body. It helped him master the jet pack and survive in outer space. It even seemed to make the crystal heat up. The power in his veins started to wear off as he was warped back to the warp room. Just in time as he started to feel faint.

***

It was certainly peaceful in space. Nitro might enjoy explosions and machinery but there were times where he needed a break. To just...gaze out into nothing. The spaceship he was in was nothing more than a speck compared to the vastness of the universe. The moment was so tranquil.

And then Cortex face planted against the windshield.

"GAH!" Gin jumped out of his seat. "Dr. Cortex! Don't worry! I'll get you in!" He opened a hatch allowing him an entry. It took three minutes but Cortex made it inside. Once he got seated, Nitro fired out questions. "What happened? Did you get the crystals? Where's the Master Crystal? Why are your eyes the size of baseballs?"

Cortex groaned before answering, "Got pummeled because C1 found out our true motives, no, taken by that bandicoot, and when he came after me, I spotted something on him that seemed to make him deadly. It was like he had no emotions as we fought."

That got his assistant interested, "How so?"

"There were glowing spots on his face. I couldn't see the eyes clearly but it looked like there weren't any pupils" Cortex explained. "I don't know what it is but it nearly killed me!"

As he heard this, N. Gin was becoming less sure. "Uh, I've heard of a lot of theories but glowing faces and pupiless eyes are really stretching it. C1 must have given you quite a beating if you're thinking like that. Well with the crystals gone we have to form a new plan. T1's at a new base already and the Evolve-O-Ray's all set to make new animal soldiers. We can handle the Vortex when the heat dies down."

Flying to Earth, Cortex wanted to keep explaining but didn't have the strength. That fight put a lot of questions in his head. How did C1 manage all of that? Was it due to the crystals? Was it the crystals and gems? The previous fight had him use gemstones too so he might have tapped into them. Also, how was C2 able to find his plans? He had them under the highest security to ensure no one could uncover them. It was clear those bandicoots were more capable and crafty than he believed. Even with that, he felt a sense of dread.

Another plan failed. How am I going to explain this?

Chapter Text

Brio and the Komodo Bros watched the fight through a security camera hidden in the asteroid field. It managed to catch Crash's face glowing as he and Cortex struggled over the crystal. The latter was blowing his hands like the Master Crystal was burning hot allowing Crash to take it. Once he spun the doctor away, he looked like he was going to pass out when he warped back to the warp rooms.

"My word... I think I finally have an idea on how those marks appear" Nitrus said.

"Really? All we sssaw wasss a chassse. How can that trigger thessse sssupposssed powersss?" Joe asked.

Looking over the book, he found a section that supported his claim. "It says here that star children can tap into their powers by emotions. I have no doubt Crash discovered the truth and felt betrayed and hurt. These feelings along with this being a time of need could be what allows him to harness these abilities. Unfortunately due to being young, he isn't used to this power yet which made him weak."

"Ssso what now?" Moe questioned. "Are we gonna tell them about thisss and who LT isss from the firssst few textsss you sent Coco?"

Security footage showed Coco and Aku-Aku helping Crash up when he returned. Brio did want to tell them but after everything that happened, it would be too much. There was also the current problem of the Cortex Vortex still in space.

"Let's focus on the current problem and give them time to recover. All the gems have been found so there's no rush."

As he went to the hologram device, Joe and Moe couldn't help but notice that their master's stutter wasn't present this time.

***

Coco and Aku-Aku stumbled out of Spaced Out with the gem in tow. "Finally. Guess Cortex was defeated if we can warp back here" Coco got out.

"But...where is your brother?" Just as Aku said that, the elevator came down with Crash on it, still wearing the jet pack. The second he stepped off, he started to fall to the floor.

"Big brother!" Coco managed to catch him. She took off the goggles and jet pack, seeing his eyes were closed but he was still breathing. "Is he okay?"

The mask looked over him, "He looks exhausted. Must be from constantly looking for crystals and not getting enough sleep. I would let him rest but Brio could contact us any moment since we have all the gems."

"Think, think" Coco then felt a Wumpa in her pocket she stored away for a snack. Getting an idea, she pulled it out and placed it in front of her brother. The scent slowly made Crash wake up. He groaned before snatching the fruit and devouring it. Once it was gone, he looked a little better.

"Mm...thanks. So hungry." Now that he had a clear view, he was face to face with his sister. "Coco?! Wh-What? How did you get here so fast?!"

She put a hand behind her head, "I followed you into the warp rooms when you didn't come back and I was the one getting the gems you missed. I wanted to tell you but Brio was worried that Cortex would interfere and come after me. I'm sorry for not..." She trailed off seeing some tears come down Crash's face. He then hugged her tightly, letting out some sobs. It wasn't hard to guess why he was crying.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you. *sniff* I just thought...Cortex had changed. That he could be the father I imagined he could be."

Coco hugged him back. "Trust me, there were times where I hoped I wasn't right. I know how much he meant to you."

The two sat in silence for a few minutes before pulling away. Something then popped into Crash's head. "How did you find out what was really going on?"

His sister pulled out her laptop. "I was hacking his files with not much luck when I suddenly felt an electric shock come out of my fingers somehow. It brought up a recording from the space station and...this is what Aku and I saw."

She turned it so they all could see it. The recording started with Cortex looking out the window as Earth floated by. It's almost ready. With the Master Crystal I found, we have the key to have the Cortex Vortex affect the entire planet. Good thing we installed a cloaking device so satellites won't detect it. It won't be long before all of humanity becomes a soulless slave.

In the corner was a man with a missile in his head watching over the Master Crystal. Hearing the voice, Coco recognized that this was N. Gin, Cortex's assistant. After doing some numbers, the man said, But Dr. Cortex, to reach full power we need not only your Master Crystal, but also the remaining twenty-five Slave Crystals from the surface. How do you expect to retrieve them, when we don't have any Earth-bound operatives left?

Cortex then faced him, You fool! Do you think I'm unaware of the situation? He the turned back to the window, If we don't have any friends or competent allies left on the surface, then we need to find...an enemy.

Once the recording was over, Crash looked at the pile of crystals. He then pulled out the one he just obtained. "So what do we do with them now?"

"I can send them back to the house and we can put them with the gems found on our last adventure." Aku-Aku floated to the crystals and used his power to teleport them away. "As for the gems...it won't be long before they're put to good use."

After he said that, the hologram device turned on allowing the heroes to see Brio standing tall. "You have acquired all of the gems! Incredible!"

Crash was feeling suspicious at this. Coco took his hand, "It's okay. We can trust him this time."

They both listened as Nitrus kept going. "I always knew you two were capable of great things. Getting both the crystals and gems in one day! Very essential as both are capable of harnessing planetary energy. With the gems, we can destroy the Cortex Vortex, forever!" He laughed crazily before speaking again. "Let me warp you three out of here to my completed instillation."

When the device turned off, the heroes faced the platform. "Want to take out your emotions by blowing up Cortex's space station?" Coco asked with a grin.

That made Crash smile, "Yes."

***

The laser was certainly massive. Its size took up most of N. Sanity Beach. It took ten minutes for all forty-two gems to be loaded in, even with help from the Komodo Bros. The blast wouldn't just destroy the Vortex, each piece blown off would then explode when it reached the stratosphere into harmless fireworks. Even if there weren't any large cities around, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Before long, all gems were absorbed and the laser was set to fire. "We are ready Crash" Brio put in the final coordinates. "Would you like to do the honors?"

Crash looked at the large red button on the ground. Grinning with excitement, he belly-flopped it and the laser fired. He, Coco, Aku-Aku, Nitrus, Joe, and Moe looked at the sky to see a giant explosion as the station was destroyed. It wasn't long before pieces started falling and then bursting into color.

"Whoa. Those are fireworks?" Crash and Coco were in awe.

"Yes, I have not seen many in my lifetime but on one trip to Australia, I got to see a show" Aku floated next to them. "People often set them off to celebrate something wonderful."

As they watched, Joe noticed Brio was heading off. "Massster" he whispered, "Where are you going?"

"We need to head out. I just got a message from them. I do want to stay but they said it's not time for them to know yet" he said.

Both reptiles understood and followed him, trying to keep an eye on the sky to catch more fireworks.

After seven minutes, the sky was quiet. "Thanks for helping us Bri-" Crash started but when he turned around, he and his creations were gone. "Huh? Where are they?"

"I don't know" Coco answered. "I still have some reservations on them, seeing how Nitrus used to work for Cortex." Something then came across her mind. "Oh! Now that my battery's charged, I can get back on that article I found on our Mom's last sighting." She clicked on the Internet icon, figuring that the page was present but came face to face with an error.

"Huh? Where is it?" she tried looking up "mutated animals" and "blond bandicoot" but found nothing. "Ugh! One step forward, twenty steps back!"

Her brother put a hand on her shoulder, "We will find her. I promise."

The sound of a bark made the heroes turn to see a polar bear cub behind the laser. As he nuzzled Crash's leg, he realized this was Polar. "Hey buddy" he picked him up and laughed as the cub licked his face.

"Must have found a way out of the warp rooms too" Aku-Aku smiled.

"Can we keep him?" Crash asked.

"Uhhh..." Aku wasn't sure about that but it was clear this bear wasn't normal anymore. Coco then chimed in, "I know a lot about polar bears and this one seemed to adapt to this climate."

Considering all the bear explained back in Totally Bear, the mask gave a smile. "Alright, he can stay."

Filled with joy, the family started to head back home. On the way, thoughts continued to go through Crash's head. First, there was that power that came back when fighting Cortex. He remembered most of it unlike the last time when he escaped the castle. Why would he feel weak after using it? It was clear it was aether which meant he needed to know more if this was going to continue. The last thing he needed was to pass out in the middle of a dangerous situation.

Another thing was Cortex. It was true he was using him for world domination but...it seemed something was going on behind the scenes. Blood red eyes, a change in tone, and that comment he heard after Coco revealed what was going on. He didn't know what it was, but it's possible that Cortex's claim that not everything he said was a lie was actually true.

Either way, the world was safe once more.

***one year later***

One piece of the space station managed to remain intact. It floated around the world for 365 days. Hovering above the Australian islands, it started to plummet to the surface.

The good news was it landed on an uninhabited island so no one was hurt. The bad news was...the explosion knocked open an ancient temple, allowing something to fly away while letting out a sinister laugh.

Free at last!